So You Want To Make A Difference

A revolution starts with a small thing, often the result of a single person, outraged by an injustice, who will act. In the beginning the act will seem small and inconsequential but it will be the like first drop of rain from the storm that will start the flood that will change the landscape forever.

The injustice I want to address is not small by any means, in B.C. it robs the provincial economy of 9 billion dollars annually. What's worse is that it tears away 420 people forever from their families and leaves another 61,000 wounded, forever scarred emotionally and physically. Another 200,000 will suffer economic impact and worse yet, will have their sense of security violated. And the saddest fact of all is that 85% of all this loss is preventable.

So who's the culprit here? My guess is that when people think how they are most at risk, they think in terms of crime. The truth is that traffic collisions kill more people, hurt more people and cost the people ten times more than criminal activity does. We as a population are sadly ignorant of this fact; if we truly understood, we would be demanding prevention and police resources be allocated where they could do the most good.

It's not the fault of the police, or the politicians; they respond to their perception of public will. Aggressive crime reporting makes us all hyperaware of specific events, and a single home invasion is often reported for two, three or more days, every hour on the hour. In 2001 there was, on average, a traffic fatality every 22 hours, but home invasions of the elderly accounted for less than 0.007% of crime reports, yet which made the greater media impact? Unless the events around a fatal car crash are particularly egregious it may not even make the news, if it does it will likely be only be for a single newscast. Given this perception, we are all more likely to be afraid of the drug addict stealing to feed a sickness than we are of the soccer parent or the nanny driving the children to school. Yet you are 10 times more likely to die inadvertently at the hands of the average driver than you are to be killed during the commission of a crime.

Not convinced? How many of your friends or associates have been involved in a collision? How many hurt? Compare that with the number that have been burgled? Or held up? Do you even know somebody who has seen a gun used in a crime (other than on television)?

Now is the time to get "angry as hell." Don't take it any more—protect yourself by learning how to avoid being involved in collisions. Yes, you can learn how not to be involved even if it is somebody else's error. We all think ourselves as good drivers but we can be a lot better with only minimal training. Unofficial estimates put the number of current drivers who could not pass ICBC's road test at "in excess of 40%." If you are really sure of your driving, call ICBC and book a road test; put your license on the line, if you dare. Not so sure? Then get a one-hour on-road evaluation from any reputable driving school or the B.C. Safety Council and get some instruction on how to be a better driver. Don't just sit there—we all can improve.

Having taken a proactive step to protect yourself, you can then look to the larger picture. Our politicians and police chiefs need to know that saving lives, limbs and dollars is a priority and traffic law enforcement is as much law enforcement as investigating a burglary. How do we do this?

Write letters; tell your police chief, or Officer in Charge of your RCMP Detachment, your mayor, your MLA and your MP that you want to see a logical balance in the use of policing dollars to address real risks to the community. Enforcement works, ICBC statistics show that targeted traffic enforcement programs have a cost recovery ratio for reduced claims of 3:1 for every dollar spent. Where else can you get a 3 times return on an investment? And this figure doesn't include fines—which go to general revenue for the Provincial Government.

Want to go a step further? If you see a flagrant violation, make note of the time, location, license number and description of the offending vehicle and call the local police. Be prepared to identify yourself and if you are asked to submit a written statement, do so. The police may be able to act on your complaint but even if not, they have one more statistic to further argue the need for increased enforcement.

If there is a sense that the public is concerned, then action will be forthcoming.

One person, like one raindrop, cannot individually make a difference but if we all speak out we become an irresistible force that cannot be ignored and we can change the landscape of collision injury forever.

The writer holds a class 1 & 6 driver's license, is 18 years claims free and has taught traffic safety for the British Columbia Safety Council for 9 years. He can be reached at 604-214-7433 loc 140 or at ian_thomas@safetycouncil.bc.ca. BC Safety Council is a registered not-for-profit charitable organization in the Province of British Columbia and has been working to reduce injury to be citizens at work, home and on the road since 1945.[ed]