Deaths In Road Collisons Set New Record Low

It’s a good news story based on tragedy.

In figures released by the Province 2019 will go down as a record for the lowest number of people killed in automobile accidents since numbers were kept in the 1950s.

In 2019 a total of 71 people were killed in collisions whereas the previous lowest number recorded was 73 in 1951 when there were one quarter the number of vehicles registered.

Additionally there has been safety upgrades since that time. Most vehicles in 1951 did not come equipped with seat belts and if they did it was not a legal requirement to wear them at that time.

“The number makes it clear that many Saskatchewan people have decided it is no longer acceptable for this province to hold a different record, and one that we held not many years ago, where we had the highest number of road fatalities in Canada,” Joe Hargrave minister responsible for SGI said in a statement.

In 2019 when preliminary figures were issued Hargrave had publicly announced a crackdown due to the death toll in 2018.

Over the previous 10 years (2009 – 2018) the average number of fatalities was 140 per year.

“However, collisions are preventable and even one traffic is too many. We can't celebrate when people are being injured and killed on our roads,” Hargrove additionally said in the statement.

The number one cause of fatal accidents in Saskatchewan is impaired driving followed closely by distracted driving.

The province has announced new tougher fines and restrictions for distracted driving scheduled to take effect February 1st .