Medicine Hat police are kicking off the new year by focusing on intersection safety as part of its monthly strategic traffic enforcement program.
Intersections are considered high-risk because they’re where drivers, cyclists and motorists must safely cross each other’s paths.
Speeding, running red lights or entering an intersection without properly looking can result in an accident, which could be fatal.
In a news release, the Medicine Hat Police Service provided some statistics about intersection accidents.
Sixty-five people are killed and 8,024 people are injured annually at intersections in Alberta.
Although 96 per cent of traffic collisions occurred in urban areas from 2012-16, 53 per cent of fatal intersections collisions occurred at rural intersections.
More than 85 per cent of collisions are the result of driver error, most commonly including left turns, stop sign violations and disobeying a traffic signal.
Winter weather conditions, such as slush, snow and ice, were involved in 14 per cent of fatal collisions and 16 per cent of injury collisions in 2016.
Police say this highlights the importance of slowing down and exerting caution when approaching and crossing intersections this season.
