Traffic Safety at Intersections: The Edmonton Experience

Over the past five years, the City of Edmonton has averaged approximately 21,000 total collisions annually, resulting in an average of approximately 6,800 injury collisions and $74,000,000 in property damage annually. Approximately 60 percent of these collisions have occurred at intersections, accounting for 65 percent of the total injuries and 40 percent of the total fatalities reported. Through engineering, education, enforcement and evaluation, the City of Edmonton and Edmonton Police Service are working to reduce the number of collisions and injuries, which are resulting from driver behaviour and related human factors. Edmonton has been an active partner of the Capital Region Intersection Safety Partnership (CRISP) since its development in 2000. The mandate of CRISP is to build awareness for traffic safety issues at intersections. The group has successfully implemented public awareness campaigns addressing red light running, pedestrian safety and speeding through intersections. The Edmonton Red Light Camera Program was launched in 1999 and will ultimately operate with 20 cameras and 60 locations by the end of 2004. Existing locations have shown an average of less than 3 violations per day, which is down from the 9.6 violations per day that were observed in the early stages of our pilot project. This program is currently being reviewed with the intent of expanding enforcement strategies to include automated intersection speed enforcement. Since the early 1990’s Edmonton has maintained a High Collision Location Program to address traffic safety at intersections. Each year, high collision intersections with a history of injuries, fatalities and property damage are assessed for engineering alternatives, enforcement strategies and signed to build awareness for the predominant collision types. Edmonton is currently enhancing this program through the development of Safety Performance Functions and an accompanying Network Screening Tool. The Network Screening Tool will allow the City to quantify the worst intersections based on several factors including collision number, collision rate, property damage and injuries The Edmonton Police Service has developed a program that targets high-risk drivers. This program correlates several behaviours and characteristics such as driving history, criminal record, age and other factors to develop a profile of a high-risk driver. Drivers who fall into this category are identified and enforcement is focused on them. This paper discusses the programs and initiatives the City of Edmonton and Edmonton Police Service are undertaking to reduce the frequency and severity of the traffic collisions that are influenced by driver behaviour and related human factors.

Author

Cebryk, G
Bell, T

Session title

HUMAN FACTORS IN ROAD SAFETY ENGINEERING – NEW DEVELOPMENTS AND INITIATIVES

Organizers

Road Safety Standing Committee

Year

2004

Format

Paper

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