drive
us, contribute to it,” says Jeff Kasbrick,
vice-president of government and stake-
holder relations for AMA. “With speed-
ing, this study paints an unfortunate
picture of many declaring, ‘Do as I say,
not as I do.’
Impaired driving: a cause for concern?
Life in the Fast Lane
speeding, distracted driving and other
prohibited practices continue to pose road-safety
risks in alberta
It happens Far too oFten . You’re
driving down the street when suddenly
another motorist cuts you off or zooms
past you way above the speed limit.
Shaking your head in disapproval, you
say to yourself, “If only other people
drove as well as me.” The trouble is we
all think like that.
Recently, the AMA Foundation for
Traffic Safety asked Albertans about
driving behaviours that they believe
threaten their personal safety on the
road. Few respondents saw themselves
as part of the problem. Fully 65 percent
said they were more careful on the road
than other drivers. Another one-third
said they’re equally as careful as others.
Speed limits seeking respect
The AMA Foundation for Traffic Safety
20
Spring 2018
AMA inSider
funds research into the causes of colli-
sions and ways to improve road safety
for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.
Its latest study suggests that while
most Albertans agree with the rules
of the road, many don’t follow them.
More than 82 percent of respondents
said speeding is “never acceptable”
on residential roads, yet 25 percent
admitted to exceeding the limit.
Similarly, 95 percent said speeding
is unacceptable in school zones, but
29 percent do it anyway.
The numbers are equally worrying
for highways, where only 18 percent of
drivers said speeding is not acceptable—
and 91 percent confessed to doing it.
“All of us need to make the connec-
tion that our goal of a safe drive is
directly tied to how we, and others like
We can all do better
And yet, overall, Albertans feel road
safety has worsened over the past three
years. Almost three-quarters of respon-
dents said distracted driving is more
of a problem—a sobering reality after
years of enforcement and awareness
campaigns meant to educate motorists
about the dangers of distracted driving.
Likewise, nearly half believed road rage
to be worse, and 57 percent said that
aggressive driving, such as tailgating and
honking, has become more of a problem.
Public education will continue to play
a key role in making our roads safer.
The easiest thing motorists can do to
help is to change their own actions. “We
think of driving as a mundane task but
it’s one of the riskiest activities that we
engage in and we do it daily,” Kasbrick
says. “We all have the ability to control
our behaviour for the better when
we’re behind the wheel.”
To donate to the AMA Foundation
for Traffic Safety: ama.ab.ca/Donate
DrIve
Somewhat positively, however, Albertans
appear to trust that their fellow driv-
ers won’t get behind the wheel while
impaired. Nearly half of those surveyed
saw drinking and driving as a slight
threat to their personal safety, or of
no threat at all (34 and 15 percent,
respectively). More than half were
unconcerned about people using
cannabis before operating a vehicle:
It was a slight threat for 31 percent,
while 23 percent were not threatened.
“Though the average Albertan doesn’t
believe they’re at risk of impaired driving
on Alberta roads, we can’t become com-
placent,” Kasbrick says. “Impaired driv-
ing, whether alcohol- or drug-related, is
still a far too present reality on Alberta
roads. It’ll continue to be a very serious
traffic issue, especially with the legaliza-
tion of cannabis only months away.”