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6. Study on the Effect of Vehicle Age and the Importation of Vehicles 15 Years and Older on the Number of Fatalities, Serious Injuries and Collisions in Canada

Study on the Effect of Vehicle Age and the Importation of Vehicles 15 Years and Older on the Number of Fatalities, Serious Injuries and Collisions in Canada

TP 2436E
RS-2008-05
June 2006

Road Safety and Motor Vehicle
Regulation Directorate

Source: Proceedings of the Canadian Multidisciplinary Road Safety Conference XVI; June 11-14, 2006; Winnipeg, Manitoba

Abstract

The number of vehicles 15 years and older imported into Canada is increasing every year. In fact, in 2002, 10,072 vehicles 15 years and older were imported; in 2003, 12,012 were imported; in 2004, 14,594 were imported; and in 2005, 17,390 were imported, an average annual increase of 24%. None of these vehicles has to meet any standards. Conversely, approximately 60,000 vehicles less than 15 years old must meet the standards of the Registrar of Imported Vehicles (RIV) program.

The fatality, serious injury and collision rates rise rapidly with increasing vehicle age, except for vehicles 0 to 2 years old. For example, the fatality rate involving occupants of vehicles 15 years and older is approximately three times as high as that of vehicles 3 to 5 years old.

This begs the question: Why are the fatality, serious injury and collision rates involving occupants of vehicles 15 years and older so high?

Is it because:

1. Occupants are not as well protected during collisions?
2. Mechanical problems are a contributing factor for vehicles 15 years and older?
3. Young drivers and high-risk drivers tend to drive these vehicles for several reasons (lower insurance premiums, lower purchase price)?

An association was found between older vehicles and mechanical failure as a contributing factor in crashes. This could be an indication of vehicle deterioration with age or poor maintenance of older vehicles. A literature review of annual vehicle inspections of older vehicles should be conducted to assess whether or not such a measure would be beneficial in the Canadian context.

Other associations were found with older vehicles, namely, the use of alcohol and drugs, unbelted occupants and suspended or unlicenced drivers. This indicates that the way the older vehicles are driven contributes to the high casualty rates that are associated with them. These findings point to an enforcement issue; while there is nothing illegal about driving an older vehicle, illegal behaviors appear to be more frequent for drivers of older vehicles.

Older vehicles are driven less than other vehicles and are not driven by a disproportionately large percentage of drivers younger than 25. The increased risk for vehicles 15 years and older is, therefore, not the result of increased exposure to risk.

Between 2000 and 2004, 25,550 imported vehicles 15 years and older accounted for 80 collisions, including one fatality and one severe injury. With mechanical failure being a very infrequent contributing factor; it is astonishing that three of these collisions involved mechanical failure.

The US has a 25-year-old cut-off importation rule and Australia has a 30-year-old one [10,11]. A market for imported vehicles 15 years old and over has developed in Canada over the last few years. The literature shows that vehicle crashworthiness affects casualty rates [7,8,9]. The high volume importation of older vehicles will likely “push the casualty rates upward”. Older vehicles should be subject to the rules of the Registrar of Imported Vehicles, just as newer vehicles are.

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Date modified:

2009-09-02

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