This week is Canadian Youth Road Safety Week, which is a good time to remember road safety doesn’t have a minimum age requirement.
Primary Care Alberta encourages Albertans to help keep streets safe for youth and all road users.
Formerly known as National Teen Driver Safety Week, the target audience has broadened to include youth and young adults.
Young people are some of the most vulnerable on Alberta roads.
In Canada, youth and young adults aged 15 to 24 years old are injured in crashes more often than any other age group.
Some of the most significant factors impacting road safety include:
- Speed – contributes to one in four fatal crashes in Canada.
- Impaired driving – amongst drivers aged 16 to 24, who are injured in a crash, nearly half test positive for alcohol or other drugs.
- Distracted driving – a factor in almost 18 per cent of fatal crashes in Canada.
There are simple steps drivers can take to keep Alberta roads safe, including staying within the posted speed limit, or driving according to the road conditions.
Planning ahead of time to use designated drivers, public transit, or rideshare services can help prevent impaired driving.
Keeping phones out of reach while behind the wheel helps avoid distractions, allowing drivers to dedicate their attention to the road ahead.
Drivers, young and old, can influence friends and family by modelling these behaviours. It’s important to keep in mind how our actions and attitudes towards road safety have an impact on others.
For more information and tips for parents of young drivers, visit myhealth.alberta.ca/alberta/pages/teen-drivers.
Find out more about Canadian Youth Road Safety Week at parachute.ca/cyrsw.
