Friday in February at around 5 p.m. was a bad time to be driving in 2020, according to a new report from Waterloo Region.
The 2020 Collison Report, released on Friday, shows that the number of collisions in the area dropped dramatically in 2020 — after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The annual report says there were 4,715 collisions that year, which is well below the 6,480 reported a year earlier.
“It’s great to see the number of collisions continue to decrease, but we can do more to keep our roads safe,” stated Steve van De Keere, director of transportation services.
“Over the years, the region has implemented a number of educational and road safety programs like roundabouts, red light cameras, pedestrian countdown signals, signalized intersection offset crosswalks, rural all-way stops and high-visibility ladder crosswalks, all to improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.”
In 493 of those collisions, someone suffered an injury with 673 people being hurt, including cyclists, pedestrians, drivers and passengers.
Seventy-five per cent of the collisions occurred at intersections, up from 64 per cent just five years earlier.
The region says that traffic volumes were down due to the pandemic, so it should come as no surprise that February, which would have been the final month before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold.
In the three of the previous four years, the worst day was in November, while the other was in December. The worst time was also 5 p.m. in three of the four years, while the final year was 4 p.m. The days were varied between Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
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