Most Ontario Drivers Say safety Has Deteriorated

86 percent want province to improve road safety
and those over age 55 are speaking out loudest

By Tom Mack

This winter will surely be remembered as one of the worst on record for its long brutal cold, heavy snows, high winds and whiteout visibility conditions.

Photo: PRNEWSWIRE/Newscom

Now, as Spring, struggles to life, fluctuating freeze-thaw cycles have littered many Ontario roads with crater-sized potholes resulting in teeth-rattling rides for road users.

It’s a scenario that has led the five companies contracted to provide services under the Ministry of Transportation’s Winter Maintenance Program to release new research findings demonstrating that a majority of Ontarians want the government to make the provinces roads safer.

Overall, the survey by Ipsos Reid conducted in the first week of March, found that a significant majority of drivers feel the government should increase spending on highway maintenance to improve the quality and safety of Ontario's highways. And older drivers have made their concerns clear in no uncertain terms.

Women, respondents aged 55 and over and residents of Northern Ontario consistently expressed the highest levels of concern about road safety.

The survey shows that by a 2-to-1 margin, Ontario drivers said they find roads are in worse condition now than they were 3 years ago; in Northern Ontario drivers believe that by a 3-to-1 margin.

Fully 86 percent of Ontarians – including 92 percent of those 55 and over; and 93 percent of people living in Central and Northern Ontario – said the government should increase spending to improve safety conditions. When comparing road conditions to recent years, 76 percent of respondents said conditions worsened this winter.

“This research shows the public believes our roads are not as safe as they were before. We share their concerns,” said Geoff Wilkinson, Executive Director of the Ontario Road Builders Association (ORBA) and lead for ORBA’s Area Maintenance Contractors, referring to the government’s 25 percent reduction in spending on road maintenance. “The government has achieved hundreds of millions of dollars in savings and has not re-invested any of it.” In addition, it should be noted that the excise tax, currently at 14.7 cents on every litre of gasoline and diesel fuel sold in Ontario, generated about $3.1 billion in 2012-2013. The question must be asked: how much of that revenue is going into road infrastructure maintenance and improvement?

Wilkinson said ORBA is currently meeting with government officials in an attempt to work together to solve these road safety issues.

The OPP has issued a number of alerts and warnings this winter about the “mayhem” on provincial highways and has asked drivers to slow down. There have been several multi-vehicle crashes this winter involving hundreds of vehicles and tractor-trailers in Southwestern, Eastern, Central and Northern Ontario, causing fatalities and multiple injuries and hospitalizations.

The ORBA contractors don’t believe there’s time for Queen’s Park to sit and wait until the end of 2014 when the Provincial Auditor issues a report on the Winter Maintenance Program.

“The time to act is now, before we put more drivers in danger,” Wilkinson said.