The Greater Sudbury Police Service in partnership with Accident Support Services International (Collision Reporting Centre), compile statistics relating to motor vehicle collisions within our City that fall under the jurisdiction of the Greater Sudbury Police Service (GSPS).
Data is collected and analyzed on four main collision types, vehicle collisions, pedestrian collisions, collisions involving drugs or alcohol and snow mobile collisions.
In 2014 there were 3, 915 Motor Vehicle Collisions (down 95 from 2013), slightly more than half of the collisions (51.5%) were self-reporting and the remainder were on scene investigations. From the on-scene collision investigations 68% were property damage only, 30% involved personal injury and there were 6 fatalities (0.3%).
The majority of collisions occur during the colder months of October through March, with January the highest month. Collisions occur mostly during the business week (Monday through Friday) with Friday having the most occurrences, between noon and five o’clock in the afternoon, with most collisions occurring at four o’clock in the afternoon.
When collisions occurred, 81% of the time the weather condition was clear, 16% of the time either rain and or snow were a factor. Drivers appear to be doing an excellent job of “driving according to conditions” during cold bad weather days; however, with most accidents being rear end type collisions drivers are still driving careless, aggressive or distracted.
In 2014 there were 69 collisions involving pedestrians, the highest amount (14.5%) occurred in May 2014. Pedestrian collisions occur most when people are traveling to work (8A.M), during lunch hour (noon to 1 P.M) and traveling home from work (5 P.M) during the work week (Monday through Friday) with Thursday having the most occurrences. Most pedestrian collisions (46%) of the drivers were not at fault, while 36% of these incident types the driver failed to yield the right away to the pedestrian. Unfortunately, 24 or 35% of pedestrian collisions could have been prevented because persons decided to cross intersections against the light or tried to cross busy roadways with no right away.
In 2014 there were 72 collisions which involved impairment by either drugs or alcohol. Most incidents (25%) occurred during the months of May and October. The majority of Collisions involving drugs or alcohol (57%) occurred during the weekend. Of the 72 drug and alcohol collisions, the peak time of day for this type occurrence is at 7 P.M. and 2 A.M. in the morning.
Lastly, there were 21 collisions involving motorized snow machines and 17 collisions involving motorized snow plows.
Total collisions – 3915
• Total vehicles involved – 7090
• Self-reported collisions – 2017
• Fatal collisions – 6
• Non-Fatal injury – 555
• Involving alcohol or drugs – 72
• Involving pedestrians – 69
• Involving Motorized Snow Vehicles – 21
• Involving Snow Plows – 17
Collision prevention must be the priority of every driver/operator of a motorized vehicle on our roads, highways and trails. Social costs, both direct and indirectly, to those involved (driver, passengers and society at large) can be substantial. Costs can include property damage, higher insurance rates, medical expenses and loss of income. Human costs can include a serious life altering injury and the loss of a loved one.
With this information and other data obtained from local collision reports, officers will be conducting enhanced enforcement in an attempt to enhance driver/pedestrian awareness and encourage compliance with traffic laws.
Road and Community Safety is the priority of the Greater Sudbury Police Service.