Traffic Collisions - what is the cost
Published June 5, 2009
As many know, Council recently passed a bylaw governing the use of hand held cell phones. Surveys have shown that 70% of our residents agree with such a bylaw. I and the other Councillors still do hear from some residents about the folly of our actions. A lot of the concern seems to be centered on the assertion that if a person uses a cell phone, they are "driving drunk". I do not believe that I have ever said that and I cannot recall any other Councillor saying that either but they might have. What was said is that studies have shown that using a cell phone while driving is equivalent to operating a motor vehicle while having 80 mgs. of alcohol in your blood stream, the legal limit.
This report is titled "Association between Cellular-Telephone Calls and Motor Vehicle Collisions" by Donald A. Redelmeier, M.D., and Robert J. Tibshirani, Ph.D. and can be viewed at http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/336/7/453. This was one of the first studies ever done on this issue and is seen as a ground breaking one. You will see that one finding of his study was:
The use of cellular telephones in motor vehicles is associated with a quadrupling of the risk of a collision during the brief period of a call.
Are there other distractions? Yes. The issue with cell phones is that it takes far more cognitive ability to have a conversation on one than it does to listen to a passenger, change the radio station, etc. Should other distractions be banned, absolutely? I am pleased to see that the Province has commented that they will be brining forth a distracted driving law in the fall.
A scourge of our society is motor vehicle collisions. In Strathcona County last year, there were 3500 of them, almost 10 a day. Nearly all collisions are caused by driver error. What is the actual cost of collisions? In 2007, Transport Canada in conjunction with the Province of Ontario did an in depth study of the social cost of motor vehicle collisions. There are direct costs and indirect costs. In 2007, the estimated direct and indirect costs, in Canada were $62.7Billion a year. Alberta's social cost was estimated at $7.5 Billion, based on 153,901 collisions, with the average cost being $48,733. Based on those numbers, the social cost for collisions in Strathcona County for 2007 was approximately $164 Million.
Since 2007, collisions in Strathcona County have gone up and so has the cost. Just imagine for a moment the human and emotional cost of these collisions. Imagine the health care costs. Is there a need to reduce collisions? Yes, beyond a shadow of a doubt. It is completely within our control to do that. We can all drive slower and more carefully and in fact I see that as our responsibility. So if cell phones quadruple the risk of a collision, what more needs to be said.
Peter Wlodarczak
Councillor, Ward 4
780-464-8146
wlodarczak@strathcona.ab.ca.
Last updated: Tuesday, March 23, 2010
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