Canadian drivers are getting worse. That’s the opinion of 50 per cent of respondents to a new national survey released on Thursday. Half of Canadians think that the drivers they see on the roads of their city or town are behaving worse now than they were five years ago.
So who are Canada’s worst drivers? According to the survey’s findings, British Columbians top the country in three dangerous practices. While nearly half of Canadians (49 per cent) have seen a driver not stopping at an intersection, that number climbs to 61 per cent in British Columbia.
BC drivers are also much worse than the Canadian average for turning right or left from the wrong lane (58 per cent, compared to 41 per cent overall in Canada). Nearly half of British Columbia residents (48 per cent) also report having a near miss (having to slam on the breaks or swerve suddenly to avoid a crash), much higher than the 39 per cent national average.
When asked who Canadians blame for bad driving, they primarily pointed the finger to two groups: younger and older drivers. If you’re a new, young driver then make sure you’re insured to your vehicle whether it be a car or a van. Money Expert (based in the UK) are a great company that offer reliable cover for any driver with a van, but there are plenty more insurance companies out there local to you that offer a similar cover too.
While the “generational clash” is expected, Mario Canseco, Vice President, Public Affairs, at Insights West, the group who conducted the survey, explains what else bothers us on the road. Many people he says, “are upset with drivers who continue to illegally use their mobile devices while behind the wheel.”
Ontario drivers actually scored better than the national average with only 46 per cent of those surveyed finding that motorists’ behaviour was deteriorating in this province. The most frequent offences drivers commit in Ontario? Failing to signal a turn or lane change, and one car taking up two or more parking spots. Even things like this could be enough to cause an incident. Those in Albuquerque searching for Personal Injury Lawyers in New Mexico following an accident may want to contact Parnall Law.
These results are based on a survey conducted in January of this year of over 1000 adult Canadians from across the country. You read more details and view the complete survey data over on Insights West’s website.
Allstate Canada’s annual Safe Driving survey, released late last year, also finds that Canadian drivers are getting worse. Their 2015 study saw a 7.3 percent increase in auto collisions over the previous year.
Spruce Grove, Alberta was rated as the safest town in Canada for driving with a collision frequency of 3.43 per cent. The community with the highest incidents of collisions was Halifax, Nova Scotia at 7.12 per cent of drivers claiming a collision between 2013 and 2015.
Ontario boasts seven of the top 10 safest cities in Canada for driving:
- Chelmsford (#2, 3.54 per cent);
- St. Thomas (#3, 3.66 per cent);
- La Salle (#4, 3.70 per cent);
- Brockville (#5, 3.83 per cent);
- Belle River (#6, 3.90 per cent);
- Sarnia (#7, 4.01 per cent);
- and Amherstburg, ON (#10, 4.09 per cent).
How about Toronto? The Big Smoke is the 69th safest town for driving in Canada. So not actually all that safe with 6.45 per cent of drivers claiming a collision.
Work from home on Fridays if you can. Allstate Canada has also found that a third of all car collisions happen on Thursdays and Fridays. Fridays have the most collisions (17 per cent) closely followed by Thursdays (16 per cent). It turns out that Sunday drivers are actually the safest, with only 9.8 per cent of collisions occurring on Sundays.
Car accidents can have devastating consequences. If you or someone you love has experienced a brain injury as a result of a collision, then you might want to contact a brain injury attorney for legal advice regarding your next steps.
Stay safe out there!