The first thing to note: the Nissan Rogue front-end as a header image. Why on a Car Accident article? Well, if you look closely, you will notice there is an actual difference between the 2016 model branding at the front and the 2017 Rogue. And the reason is straightforward. It is a safety improvement. Maybe some slight aerodynamics, but basically, a forward emergency collision radar is hidden behind that logo to prevent and reduce the chances of an accident. This one and multiple other features developed by car manufacturers among the last couple of decades are the results of the numbers we will see below. Overall, we can pre-conclude now, that it is way safer to drive today than it was 20 years ago.
Car Accident Numbers
All numbers and references in the following article are referenced from the Canadian Motor Vehicle Traffic Collision Yearly Report. Please note these are actual "reported" collisions with police and insurance companies involvement, not those specific cases where you hit a fence and damage is enough to figure out with you and your neighbor how to solve the incident. While the most recent report is from 2015, as it takes time to gather all that info from all reporting organisms involved, you will be likely to notice the trend very easy.
The purpose of this article is either both encouraging safe driving habits, driving ethics and obeyance of traffic regulations while demonstrating that the result of the continuous application of these, plus the tech innovations added by manufacturers among years have improved the safety of the roads.
The following table centers on the following data:
- Vehicles on the road: Although not a 100% relevant number, the number of registered vehicles that pay a yearly registration fee are expected to be driven every year.
- Injuries: Includes all victims involved in a vehicle collision with either fatal, serious or minor injuries.
- Injuries Rate every 1,000 on the Road for a Year: How many victims result from the fact that 1,000 registered vehicles drive around during 365 continuous days.
| Year | Vehicles on the Road | Injuries | Injuries Rate every 1,000 on the Road for a Year |
| 1996 | 16,871,000 | 227,283 | 13.47 |
| 1997 | 17,199,000 | 217,401 | 12.64 |
| 1998 | 17,654,000 | 213,319 | 12.08 |
| 1999 | 17,260,000 | 218,457 | 12.66 |
| 2000 | 17,571,000 | 222,848 | 12.68 |
| 2001 | 17,784,000 | 216,542 | 12.18 |
| 2002 | 18,267,000 | 222,665 | 12.19 |
| 2003 | 18,495,000 | 216,123 | 11.69 |
| 2004 | 18,672,000 | 206,104 | 11.04 |
| 2005 | 18,910,000 | 204,701 | 10.83 |
| 2006 | 19,580,000 | 199,976 | 10.21 |
| 2007 | 20,071,000 | 192,745 | 9.60 |
| 2008 | 20,520,000 | 176,394 | 8.60 |
| 2009 | 20,792,000 | 170,770 | 8.21 |
| 2010 | 21,232,000 | 172,081 | 8.10 |
| 2011 | 21,616,000 | 167,741 | 7.76 |
| 2012 | 21,705,000 | 166,479 | 7.67 |
| 2013 | 22,334,000 | 164,493 | 7.37 |
| 2014 | 22,851,000 | 155,312 | 6.80 |
| 2015 | 23,215,000 | 161,902 | 6.97 |
Every Year, there are more Vehicles Out there
Obviously, this is an average population growing behaviour almost anywhere in the world during the last decades. The more people, the more vehicles are needed. There are almost 45% more vehicles driving today in Canada than the ones that were on the roads 20 years ago.
At this rate, the number should be doubled in the next 15 - 20 years, depending on how transportation trends solve our future problems.
Every Year, there are Fewer Injuries
This is the best indicator. While in 1996, numbers were pretty high, future predictions would have sounded way scarier. The good thing is that it has been reduced almost to half. The following two graphs show how total injuries have behaved and what is the yearly average of injured persons per 1,000 vehicles on the road per year. It went from 13.47 to 6.97 (almost half) in the past 20 years.
Clearly, in 2015 (and probably since), we had half or less the chance to be injured on the road than we had in 1996. Still, don't rely on numbers and drive safe out there, Canada.
