Canadian Motor Vehicle Traffic Collision Statistics: 2010

Collected in cooperation with the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators

Table of Contents

Introduction

Transport Canada's National Collision Database (NCDB) contains data on all reportable motor vehicle collisions in Canada that the provinces and territories provide each year. Every year, the number of fatalities and serious injuries on Canada's roads continue to decrease despite the fact that the number of vehicles continue to increase.The year 2010 saw fewer motor vehicle casualty collisions in Canada than in previous years. The number of motor vehicle fatalities and serious injuries also continued their downward trend. In fact, they were the lowest since the data were first collected in the early 1970's.The federal, provincial and territorial governments in Canada work to improve road safety to reduce the number of fatalities and serious injuries and to achieve the safest roads in the world.

  • In 2010, the number of motor vehicle fatalities was 2,227; down slightly from 2,230 in 2009.
  • The downward trend for serious injuries continued as well, dropping to 11,226 in 2010; down 5.1 per cent from 2009 (11,829).
  • The number of fatalities per 100,000 population was 6.5 in 2010, slightly lower than 6.6 in 2009.
  • Young driver and passenger fatalities continued to be very noticeable in motor vehicle collision statistics. Nearly 23 per cent of motor vehicle fatalities were 15-to-24 year olds in 2010, even though this age group makes up only 13 per cent of the Canadian population.
  • In 2010, while about 57 per cent of fatal collisions took place on rural roads, 73 per cent of recorded injury collisions took place in urban areas.

Collision and Casualties 1991–2010

Year Collisions Victims
Fatal1 Personal Injury2 Fatalities3 Serious Injuries4 Injuries5 (Total)
1991 3,228 170,693 3,690 26,035 249,217
1992 3,073 169,640 3,501 25,521 249,823
1993 3,121 168,106 3,615 23,902 247,593
1994 2,837 164,642 3,230 22,830 241,899
1995 2,817 161,950 3,313 21,494 238,458
1996 2,740 153,944 3,129 18,734 227,283
1997 2,660 147,549 3,076 17,294 217,401
1998 2,583 145,615 2,919 16,197 213,319
1999 2,632 148,683 2,980 16,187 218,457
2000 2,547 153,300 2,903 15,583 222,869
2001* 2,413 148,996 2,756 15,285 216,489
2002 2,583 153,859 2,921 15,907 222,707
2003 2,489 150,545 2,779 15,125 216,210
2004 2,436 145,248 2,731 15,591 206,229
2005 2,551 145,603 2,898 15,814 204,764
2006 2,599 142,513r 2,870r 15,676r 199,970r
2007 2,462 138,612r 2,755r 14,235r 192,744r
2008 2,182 127,648r 2,434r 12,722r 176,455r
2009 2,011 123,516r 2,230r 11,829r 171,415r
2010 2,000 123,141 2,227 11,226 170,629
  1. "Fatal collisions" include all reported motor vehicle crashes that resulted in at least one death, where death occurred within 30 days of the collision, except in Quebec (eight days).
  2. Personal injury collisions" include all reported motor vehicle crashes which resulted in at least one injury but not death within 30 days of the collision, except in Quebec (eight days).
  3. "Fatalities" include all those who died as a result of a reported traffic collision within 30 days of its occurrence, except in Quebec (eight days).
  4. "Serious injuries" include persons admitted to hospital for treatment or observation. Serious injuries were estimated from 1991 to 2010 because several jurisdictions under-reported these numbers.
  5. "Total injuries" include all reported severity of injuries ranging from minimal to serious.

* Data for Nunavut are not reported for 2001, except for fatalities.
r Revised.

Fatalities and Injuries By Age Group 2010

Age groups (Yrs) Fatalities Serious Injuries Injuries (Total)
0–4 18 110 2,342
5–14 43 391 7,200
15–19 234 1,317 19,841
20–24 277 1,466 21,532
25–34 321 1,983 30,734
35–44 293 1,618 25,775
45–54 347 1,748 26,026
55–64 269 1,220 16,861
65 + 406 1,136 14,679
Not Stated 19 237 5,639
Total 2,227 11,226 170,629

Fatalities By User Class 2006-2010

Road User Class   2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Drivers # 1,519r 1,434r 1,316r 1,172r 1,148
% 52.9r 52.1r 54.1r 52.6r 51.5
Passengers # 617r 608r 498r 442r 480
% 21.5r 22.1r 20.5r 19.8r 21.6
Pedestrians # 371r 375r 305r 317r 296
% 12.9r 13.6r 12.5r 14.2r 13.3
Bicyclists # 75r 66r 43r 44r 60
% 2.6r 2.4r 1.8r 2.0r 2.7
Motorcyclists* # 217r 222r 219r 198r 189
% 7.6r 8.1r 9.0r 8.9r 8.5
Not Stated/Other # 71r 50r 53r 57r 54
% 2.5r 1.8r 2.2r 2.6r 2.4
Total # 2,870r 2,755r 2,434r 2,230r 2,227
% 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

* Includes moped riders.
r Revised.

Fatalities 1991–2010

Fatalities 1991–2010

Casualty Rates 2010

  Per 100,000 Population1 Per Billion Vehiclekilometers2 Per 100,000 Licensed Drivers
  Fatalities Injuries Fatalities Injuries Fatalities Injuries
Canada 6.5 500.0 6.6 504.1 9.5 724.8
N.L. 5.5 404.1 5.8 426.2 7.7 567.1
P.E.I. 6.3 451.9 6.9 493.7 9.1 655.0
N.S. 7.4 513.0 6.9 476.9 10.2 707.5
N.B. 12.4 458.7 11.5 425.9 16.9 626.5
QUE. 6.1 548.6 6.6 594.2 9.4 849.5
ONT. 4.3 477.3 4.5 498.3 6.2 682.9
MAN. 7.0 570.5 7.2 583.9 11.0 891.1
SASK. 16.0 625.9 12.8 499.5 23.1 905.3
ALTA. 9.2 490.5 6.6 349.5 12.4 655.8
B.C. 8.0 461.5 10.1 579.3 11.6 665.7
Y.T. 11.6 636.6 7.9 433.9 15.4 848.5
N.W.T. 6.8 257.8 9.4 353.6 12.1 455.9
NVT. 6.1 124.9 60.2 1,234.6 48.3 989.4
  1. Statistics Canada, Annual Demographic Estimates: Canada, Provinces and Territories, 2011, Catalogue No. 91-215-X.
  2. Statistics Canada, Canadian Vehicle Survey, Catalogue No. 53-223-XIE.

Notes: Vehicle Kilometres data for 2010 were estimated using average annual growth rates for the previous five years.
Data for Ontario are preliminary.

Percentage of Driver and Passenger Fatalities and Serious Injuries by Age Group 2010

  Fatalities Serious Injuries
Age Group (Yrs) Drivers Passengers Drivers Passengers
0–4 0.0 2.6 0.0 2.9
5–14 0.0 5.1 0.2 6.9
15–19 8.8 19.8 9.4 18.9
20–24 13.5 14.6 14.2 14.7
25–34 16.6 12.6 19.7 16.1
35–44 13.9 10.9 16.5 9.8
45–54 16.8 8.7 16.3 10.0
55–64 13.1 7.5 12.5 6.7
65 + 16.9 17.6 10.8 9.9
Not Stated 0.3 0.6 0.3 4.2
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Number of Licensed Drivers by Gender and by Age 2010

Age Group (Yrs) Males Females Total
<16 29,103 21,063 50,166
16–19 592,496 529,891 1,122,387
20–24 954,906 884,699 1,839,605
25–34 2,052,639 1,978,825 4,031,464
35–44 2,185,512 2,094,919 4,280,431
45–54 2,538,035 2,398,377 4,936,411
55–64 2,006,515 1,863,204 3,869,719
65 + 1,841,901 1,568,929 3,410,830
Not Stated 1 0 1
Total 12,201,108 11,339,907 23,541,015

Licensed Drivers and Motor Vehicle Registrations by Type of Vehicle (In Thousands) 1991–2010

  Licensed Drivers1 Light Duty Vehicles2 Commercial Vehicles3 Motorcycles4
1991 18,090 12,578 3,516 350
1992 18,465 12,781 3,461 339
1993 18,843 12,925 3,455 337
1994 19,243 13,131 3,510 330
1995 19,327 13,192 3,535 320
1996 19,964 13,251 3,620 312
1997 20,148 13,515 3,684 319
1998 20,744 13,887 3,767 334
1999 20,934 16,538 722 274
2000 20,593 16,832 739 311
2001 20,879 17,055 729 318
2002 21,163 17,543 724 350
2003 21,436 17,755 740 373
2004 21,673 17,920 752 409
2005 21,937 18,124 786 443
2006 22,278 18,739 841 485
2007 22,606 19,199 872 522
2008 22,972 19,613 907 567
2009 23,198 19,877 915 595
2010 23,541 20,272e 941e 637e
  1. Excludes temporary permits prior to 1999.
  2. Pre-1999, these registrations include passenger automobiles. From 1999, light-duty vehicles include passenger type vehicles (automobiles, passenger vans), light trucks and vans (less than 4,500 kg).
  3. Pre-1999, these registrations include trucks, buses and other commercial vehicles, such as vans.
    From 1999, these registrations include commercial vehicles (trucks and buses) greater than 4,500 kg.
  4. Includes mopeds.

e Estimated.

Note: Vehicle Registration data for 2010 were estimated using average annual growth rates for the previous three years.

Source:
1989 to 1998: Statistics Canada, Catalogue No. 53-219, "Road Motor Vehicles - Registrations".
From 1999, the motor vehicle registration data are from Statistics Canada, CANSIM, Table 405-0004.
From 1999 the licensed driver data were provided by each jurisdiction.

The decline in police reporting in British Columbia in years 1996 through 2004 has affected the British Columbia totals and, to a lesser extent, national totals reported in this publication. 

Percentage Of Fatally Injured Drivers Tested And Found To Have Been Drinking (BAC* >0 mg%) 1991–2010

Percentage Of Fatally Injured Drivers Tested And Found To Have Been Drinking (BAC* >0 mg%) 1991–2010

* BAC: Blood Alcohol Concentration.
mg%: Weight of alcohol in the bloodstream stated as milligrams in 100 millilitres of blood.

  1. Before 2001, BAC categories were reported as 81-150 mg% and >150 mg%.

Note: 2010 data are preliminary.
Source: The alcohol crash problem in Canada, Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators.

Percentage Of Driver And Passenger Fatalities And Serious Injuries Where Victims Were Not Using Seat Belts 2006–2010

  2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Drivers
Fatalities 36.9 35.3 34.9 33.6 34.0
Serious Injuries 16.2 16.0 15.6 14.5 12.9
Passengers
Fatalities 38.7 39.1 38.3 36.3 40.4
Serious Injuries 24.6 24.8 21.6 23.3 20.5

Note: "Serious Injuries" include victims admitted to hospital for treatment or observation.

Percentage Of Fatalities And Serious Injuries By Road User Class 2010

Road User Class Fatalities Serious Injuries
Drivers 51.5 46.0
Passengers 21.6 22.6
Pedestrians 13.3 13.5
Bicyclists 2.7 3.9
Motorcyclists 8.5 11.5
Not Stated / Other 2.4 2.5
Total 100.0 100.0

Number Of Collisions By Location 2010

Location Fatal Personal Injuries
Urban1 834 91,434
Rural2 1,131 29,716
Not Stated 35 1,991
Total 2,000 123,141
  1. Urban includes:
    1. metropolitan roads and streets and other urban areas, or
    2. a speed limit at the collision site of 60 km/h or less.
  2. Rural includes:
    1. primary or secondary highways, as well as local roads, or
    2. a speed limit at the collision site exceeding 60 km/h.

Note: In Alberta, New Brunswick, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, "urban" includes any area within the corporate boundaries of a city, town, village or hamlet. "Rural" includes any area outside of what is defined as "urban".

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Transport, 2012.

Cette publication est aussi disponible en français sous le titre Statistiques sur les collisions de la route au Canada 2010.

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Catalogue No.: T45-3/2010E-PDF
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