MPI study captures Manitoba’s top roadways for speeders

Manitobans like to drive fast — even when they’re not supposed to.

That’s according to a study by Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI), which monitored more than 2.3 million vehicles at 50 locations provincewide in 2022.

The goal of the research, which took place over five months in both rural and urban locations, was to understand how frequently Manitoba drivers exceed the posted speed limits.

The study tracked almost 100,000 vehicles travelling more than 10 km/h over posted limits on Manitoba highways, and MPI named eastbound Highway 1 west of Elie as the worst stretch for speeders in the province.

Just over 38 per cent of vehicles monitored there were clocked at 10 km/h (or more) over the limit.

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“We know that speeds kills and continues to be one of the major contributors to all collisions that happen every year,” MPI’s Satvir Jatana said in a release.

“Every driver has a choice when they get behind the wheel — slow down and drive to conditions. MPI encourages everyone to do just that as they enjoy one of the last long weekends of summer.”

Other frequent-speeding zones included southbound Main Street south of Young Avenue in Selkirk, eastbound Inskter Boulevard east of the Bergen Cutoff Road in the RM of Rosser, and northbound Highway 6 north of Grand Rapids.

The top five was closed out by eastbound Maryland Avenue between Cornell Bay in Brandon — a school zone.

MPI said the results of the survey will be shared with road safety enforcement stakeholders for speed prevention efforts.

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Manitoba RCMP say speeding is one of four high-risk behaviours that can lead to serious injury or death on the road.

Sgt. Paul Manaigre told Global Winnipeg that most accidents are caused by speeding, distracted driving, not wearing a seatbelt… and another big concern: impaired driving.

“Usually almost one-third of collisions are attributable to someone consuming alcohol before they get behind the wheel, or drinking while they’re driving,” Manaigre said.

“Even though we’ve been preaching the message for realistically decades, people don’t think it’s going to happen to them — there’s a complacency factor.”

A total of 77 Manitobans have lost their lives heading into the long weekend, police said, including two more this week alone. That’s a big jump from only 46 at this time last year.