Provincial Road Safety Strategy

CAA is advocating for the provincial government to establish a road safety strategy to ensure safer roads for all Ontarians.

Group of elementary school kids getting in a yellow school bus at school's out. Boys and girls age 8-11. They seem happy to finish the school.

A history of protecting road users.

For over a century, CAA has led road safety advocacy in Ontario – from the CAA School Safety Patrol^® program to championing seat belt laws and advocating to include tow truck drivers in Slow Down, Move Over legislation. Now, CAA is calling on the Ontario government to take a more strategic approach to road safety.

An aerial view above Highway 403 on the Hamilton mountain on sunny morning, the growing Hamilton skyline seen in the distance, the Canadian industrial city is on the shores of Lake Ontario.

A provincial road safety strategy helps address transportation challenges and reduce harm on Ontario’s roads. By providing immediate and long-term solutions, a well-developed strategy can respond to many of the road safety concerns drivers regularly share through CAA surveys.

Why a provincial road safety strategy?

CAA’s mission has always been clear: make roads safer for everyone and protect those who use them. Strong road safety strategies succeed when government, law enforcement, health experts, advocates and community partners work together and share a common goal: to reduce traffic-related injuries and fatalities.

CAA’s recommended focus areas.

Traffic safety culture

Make road safety a key priority in everyone’s mind to prevent dangerous driving behaviours.

Road safety targets

Identify achievable short- and long-term targets to reduce fatalities and serious injuries and measure the effectiveness of the strategy.

Safe System Approach

Adopt the Safe System Approach with a vision to prevent all collisions and ensure no one is seriously injured if they do occur.

Guiding principles

Create guiding principles that align municipal and provincial authorities to focus on safe, equitable mobility that guides all modes of transportation and elevates the Ministry of Transportation’s safety purpose.

What is the Safe System Approach?

The Safe System Approach recognizes the interdependence of safety components and actions that can be taken to achieve continuous improvements.

The goal of this approach is to prevent all collisions and accepts that human error is inevitable. Therefore, roads and transportation infrastructure should be designed to prevent fatalities or serious injuries if crashes do happen.

Traditional Approach	Safe System Approach
Prevent crashes	Prevent death and serious injuries
Improve human behaviour	Design for human mistake/limitations
Control speeding	Reduce system kinetic energy
Individuals are responsible	Share responsibility
React based on crash history	Proactively identify and address risks

A circular infographic titled “Safe System Principles” is divided into five sections around a central circle. The sections show icons and labels for: Safe Road Users, Safe Vehicles, Safe Speeds, Safe Roads, and Post-Crash Care. Around the outer ring, additional principles are written: “Humans are vulnerable to injury,” “Responsibility is shared,” “Proactive vs. reactive,” “No death or serious injury is acceptable,” and “Humans make errors.”

Learn more about the Safe System Approach

Benefits of a road safety strategy.

Consistent road safety standards

Creating provincial standards that apply to municipalities while reflecting the changes in transportation and road safety in Ontario.

Getting results

Setting realistic targets to reduce injuries and deaths on Ontario roads, which in turn eases the strain on the health-care system and lowers costs for Ontarians.