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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The NWT welcomes Canada road safety week with arguably the best safety record in the country.

RCMP temporarily diverted traffic at the scene of an accident on Franklin Avenue and 47 Street on Wednesday morning, June 2, 2011, where a 66-year-old man was hit by a truck while crossing the street. - NNSL file photo

For the 15th month in a row there have been no fatalities on NWT roads and trails, distinguishing the territory from all other jurisdictions in North America, said Earl Blacklock, manager of public affairs and communications at the Department of Transportation.

“The last time we had a fatality on either the roads or trails was mid-December 2010,” said Blacklock last week. This takes into account all cars, pedestrians, snow machines, all-terrain vehicles and bicycles.

“It’s unusual,” said Blacklock, “but it’s something that continues and we ascribe it primarily to people responding to messages to wear their seatbelt. We know people are 13 times more likely to die in a collision if they are not wearing their seatbelt.”

Statistics are not yet available for 2011 but in 2010, the total number of reported collisions and total collisions involving alcohol were at their lowest in at least a decade.

The NWT is the only jurisdiction in Canada that combines all road safety under a single brand – the Drive Alive travel safety program, said Blacklock. Other jurisdictions run separate ad campaigns for various road safety issues, such as impaired driving, distracted driving and seatbelt use.

“Instead of having big campaigns that people forget we have mini-campaigns that support the brand,” Blacklock said.

Drive Alive focuses on four key precautions: driving in accordance with road and weather conditions; eliminating distractions while driving; using appropriate safety equipment and preparing for the unexpected.

In 2009, when Transport Canada performed a survey of seat belt use amongst rural Canadians, NWT residents had the lowest rate of seat belt use in the country at 38.2 per cent.

That same year, there were three fatalities associated with failing to wear a seat belt. The next year there were two. In 2011 there were none.

Though statistics haven’t yet confirmed it, Blacklock believes the improvement is primarily due to people wearing their seatbelts.

In January, the GNWT introduced distracted driving legislation, which imposes a penalty of $115 and three demerit points for anyone caught using a restricted electronic device, such as a cellphone, MP3 player or GPS, while driving.

Yellowknife RCMP Const. Todd Scaplen said charges have been laid under the new legislation but he was unable to say how many.

Road safety week, which runs from May 15 to 21, is part of a national campaign to make Canada’s roads the safest in the world by 2015.

Scaplen said RCMP would be stepping up patrols throughout the week, including conducting random checkstops.

Scaplen said police are hoping to help uphold the territory’s safety record for as long as possible.

“From a traffic services point of view, we try to maintain a presence on the roadways and highways, in an enforcement role but also in an education role. There doesn't necessarily always have to be a charge laid for the point to get across to people,” Scaplen said.

RCMP “G” Division has also asked other detachments within the NWT to increase their patrols and try to give more time to traffic enforcement throughout the week.

Scaplen said he will compile information collected in the NWT during Canada road safety week into a report that will be sent to headquarters as well as to Ottawa.

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