SGI says number of traffic fatalities dropped in 2019

Fatal crashes in Saskatchewan are continuing a downward trend, with 2019 being the first year in several decades the number has been below 100.

On Monday, SGI said its preliminary numbers indicated 71 people were killed in collisions last year. The previous record was 73 in 1951.

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

SGI vice-president of traffic safety Kwei Quaye put the number context during a media conference at the Legislative Building.

Quaye said in 1951, there were only about 250,000 vehicles registered in the province. In 2019, almost 1 million vehicles were registered here.

“I want to thank all Saskatchewan residents who are working to make our roads safer, and I’d like to particularly acknowledge the work by law enforcement, media, and families affected by distracted or impaired driving,” Hargrave said.

“However, collisions are preventable and even one traffic death is too many. We can’t celebrate when people are still being killed and injured on our roads.”

According to SGI, the province averaged nearly 140 fatalities per year over the previous 10 years (2009-18).

There were 129 people killed on Saskatchewan roads in 2018. SGI said more enforcement, tougher legislation and better driving habits may have led to the decrease in 2019.

RCMP Sgt. Darren MacDougall said that from a rural policing perspective, more people are obeying speed limits.

“I’ll use Highway 6 as an example, down toward Weyburn and Estevan,” he said. “You’d be getting speeds anywhere from 135 (kilometres per hour) and above (prior to 2019). And now the speeds have dropped significantly, for sure. People are holding to the limits.”

MacDougall also acknowledged that Mounties are using new tactics to spot and ticket drivers using their cellphones while on the highways.

He said RCMP members have been authorized to use rental vehicles, unmarked cars, SUVs and trucks, on provincial highways. Mounties in those vehicles will radio ahead to marked RCMP cruisers, which will then pull over the specified vehicles, MacDougall said.

The police officer also said bars in rural areas are being more co-operative and welcoming to Mounties actually entering the businesses and talking reports of overly intoxicated people.

“When people make the decision to drive safely, it literally saves lives,” SGI president and CEO Andrew Cartmell said in the release. “If you are one of the drivers who still chooses to take risks like texting while you’re driving, driving when you’re impaired or driving at unsafe speeds, you are now in the minority.

“We ask you change your habits and become part of making this the province with the safest roads in Canada.”