Winter storm papers
Weather Information and Road Safety Dr. Jean Andrey Department of Geography, University of Waterloo and Brian Mills and Jessica Vandermolen Adaptation and Impacts Research Group, MSC Environment Canada
August 2001
Paper Series – No. 15
Abstract
Each year road crashes drain over $10 billion from the Canadian health care system and result in nearly 3,000 fatalities and one injury for every 135 citizens. Furthermore, despite large reductions in injury rates per unit of travel, the injury risk per capita is at a similar level as it was three decades ago.
Weather is one environmental risk factor that is known to affect collision rates. Weather related collision costs in Canada are estimated to be approximately $1 billion per year.
This report summarizes empirical research on this topic and assesses the state of knowledge pertaining to the role of weather information provision in road safety improvement.