Serious injury, death collisions in Calgary at five-year high: police

As Calgarians prepare to hit the road for the long weekend, Calgary police are reporting collisions resulting in death and major injuries in the city are at a five-year high.

“I’ve seen a large increase in distracted and reckless driving… driving to work, driving around, regular commuting, there’s people going 30 to 40 kilometres over the speed limit, weaving in out off traffic — it’s not a surprise to me,” one person told CityNews.

According to Calgary police, there were 2,633 collisions that resulted in injuries in 2023, roughly 200 more than the previous year.

Fatal collisions are also on the rise, with police reported 24 car crashes causing death last year, five more than 2022 and 10 more than 2021.

Some Calgarians speculate the end of work-from-home and then return to the office could be a contributing factor.

“People are starting to go back into the office because they no longer work from home so the roads are a lot busier during the day, high traffic times are usually about 7-9 a.m. and 3-6 p.m.,” one person said.

Others feel it is due to an increase in inexperienced drivers.

“I think it is mainly the in-experienced drivers — given that Deerfoot is the most used road and that’s where I believe most of the collision are happening, at least that’s where I see them,” another added. “I feel it’s more of unawareness of what’s happening around them as opposed to reckless driving or speeding.”

Sam Ameriadis, owner and operator of ARA Auto Accessories says the report isn’t surprising considering the amount of dash cameras he’s sold. He claims sales are up 20 per cent year-over-year, as more people look to protect themselves on the road.

“The category has grown for us over the last decade here, quite dramatically every year,” he said. “This year is probably one of our best years for sales and installations of dash cams.”

Ameriadis also says dash cams are becoming a mainstream purchase that’s gone beyond taxi and Ubers, and are a good way for drivers to protect themselves from liability in the case of a collision. But, people usually make the purchase after the accident.

“Everyone from soccer mom, to a single guy who wants to make sure he is covered in a sense, buys these,” he said. “But we find a lot of time there is a motivating factor to get the dash cam, so something happened on the roads and the driver wishes he had a camera, so those are the situations that get them to go out and do the research and then get the installation.”

Calgary police are working on a mobility plan with hopes to help reduce the number of collisions by 25 per cent over the next five years.