Annual report shows road deaths at all time high in Ottawa
Posted Jul 16, 2018 08:26:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The intersection of Hunt Club Road and Riverside Drive retains its title of the most dangerous intersection in Ottawa.
The city's road safety report for 2017 shows, once again, that its the intersection where the most crashes occur.
The report contains some other sobering figures: The number of overall crashes is up, as is the number of collision-related deaths.
Staff Sgt. Francois D'Aoust with the Ottawa Police Technical Investigations told 1310 NEWS' The Rick Gibbon Show, 32 deaths on Ottawa roads in 2017 represents an increase over the previous high point of 29 in 2014.
It's a worrying trend, and one which police are working to address through the creation of a Fatal Collision Review Committee.
“[The committee] meets after every fatal collision to discuss ways to improve our response,” explained D'Aoust. “It could be through education, through additional enforcement in areas that are required, and through road engineering to make roads safer.”
There were 14,394 reportable collisions in the City of Ottawa in 2017.
Hunt Club Road and Riverside Drive, which was also the most dangerous intersection through 2016, saw 45 crashes last year, with six people injured.
“[A] large number of vehicles coming in and out toward the downtown in the morning,” said D'Aoust, noting the area in Riverside South is quite built up with a lot of new homes.
According to D'Aoust, many collisions, including the deadly ones, come down to a couple of factors that include distracted driving, speeding, and not wearing a seatbelt.
