Medicine Hat the fifth safest city in Canada to drive in

By Jeremy Appel on November 24, 2017.

jappel@medicinehatnews.com @MHNJeremyAppel

Medicine Hat motorists can rest assured they live in one of Canada’s safest cities for driving.

According to this year’s safe driving study from Allstate Canada, the Hat has the fifth lowest collision frequency rate out of 93 communities in Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario with 3.99 per cent.

By contrast, the lowest frequency rate was Hanmer, Ont., with 3.65 per cent and the highest was Halifax, N.S., with 7.9 per cent.

While the nation’s frequency rate increased 2.5 per cent, Alberta’s decreased by 5.7.

Alberta is also home to the second-lowest and fourth-lowest collision frequency rates — Spruce Grove at 3.79 per cent and Lethbridge at 3.86 per cent.

Sgt. Clarke White of the MHPS Traffic Unit said Allstate’s findings are consistent with the MHPS’s efforts to make its roads safer for motorists.

“We’ve worked hard towards ensuring road safety,” said White. “We have a traffic safety plan for 2017-18. One of our goals in that traffic safety plan is to reduce collisions on the roads and maintain Medicine Hat as one of Canada’s safest roadways through a combination of education and enforcement.”

He said the issue has become increasingly vital with the impending legalization of marijuana across the country.

“It’s something that’s going to have to continue, especially with the marijuana legalization and the concerns … that possibly impaired driving will go up,” White said.

He attributed the province’s low collision frequency rate to the Government of Alberta giving law enforcement agencies “the proper tools … to enforce the laws.

“Studies will show that the average person who receives a violation ticket, that violation ticket will change their driving behaviour for the better for up to two years,” said White.

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