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Three ambulances parked at VGH Emergency with paramedics in the background

Collision data

Transportation related injuries are the second highest cause of serious injuries arriving at hospital emergency departments.

We use collision data to identify:

  • Key safety issues
  • Prioritize intersections and corridors in need of detailed safety assessments
  • Develop effective safety strategies
  • Monitor our progress

Get the numbers

To better understand transportation related collisions and avoid any gaps in our analysis we are currently reviewing a variety of data sources:

  • Collision claims reported to ICBC : ICBC collects all reported vehicle and motorcycle collisions in Vancouver and provides this data to us every year. ICBC data has been our most extensive data source for many years.

 

Current data trends

Traffic Related Fatalities
Fatalities by City
Serious Injuries
Traffic Related Fatalities
Traffic related fatalities have been decreasing over the last 20 years, while population has been increasing.
Hover on data points for more information on the number of traffic fatalities for the year.
Source: VPD traffic fatality data (1996-2016)

New data sources we are exploring

To understand traffic related injuries, we are looking at the following new data sources from our health partners:

  • Hospital injury data
  • Ambulance data

Before the Hospital Injury Data Pilot, we had no information about serious injuries to track our progress. Existing data sources did not tell the whole story. They do not include:

  • Information about collisions not involving a motor vehicle (for example: bike-to-pedestrian and bike-to-bike collisions, and single bike and single pedestrian falls)
  • Demographics that identify injuries affecting at risk groups, such as seniors, children, and those with mobility challenges

About the pilot

The Hospital Injury Data Pilot was completed in summer 2016. For the purpose of this pilot, serious injuries were defined as being admitted to hospital because of a traffic related injury.

Four hospitals participated in the pilot:

  • Vancouver General Hospital (VGH)
  • Mount Saint Joseph
  • St Paul’s Hospital
  • BC Children’s Hospital

Only Vancouver General Hospital (VGH)   collected information from patients about where and how the collisions happened. 

Key findings

  • VGH treats the majority of patients and the most severe injuries because it's the only level one adult trauma centre in Vancouver.
  • Traffic related serious injuries are the second highest cause of injuries arriving at the VGH Emergency Department.
  • Some serious injuries may have been registered under the falls category, so traffic related injuries may represent an even higher percentage. Falls data was provided to us recently and will be analyzed during summer 2017.  
  • In the last six years, serious injuries involving pedestrians and cyclists have been increasing. While serious injuries involving motor vehicle occupants has been decreasing since 2014.
  • Serious injuries per trip have been decreasing for cyclists and remained steady for other transportation modes.
  • Vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists) are the most susceptible to fatalities and serious injuries.
  • Seniors are at high risk of traffic related fatalities and serious injuries.
  • A significant percentage of cycling related serious injuries do not involve a motor vehicle. Most of these injuries, not involving a motor vehicle, are single cyclist falls.

Next steps

  • Continue sharing serious injury data from hospitals on a monthly basis
  • Provide recommendations to improve hospital quality of data
  • Analyze hospital injury data in the falls category (summer 2017)

View a summary of hospital injury data in Vancouver  (508 KB)

BC Ambulance data can assist us in improving gaps in our hospital injury data by:

  • Providing GPS coordinates with exact patient pick up (injury locations) and hospital drop off location (especially useful for injuries missing positional data from hospital records)
  • Capturing injuries happening in Vancouver that were treated at nearby hospitals outside Vancouver
  • Assisting us in identifying injuries happening outside of Vancouver but treated at hospitals in Vancouver

About the pilot

The Ambulance Injury Data Pilot will be completed in winter 2017.

Next steps

Analyze ambulance data in winter 2017. 

Injuries and fatalities in an average year in Vancouver

fatalities
serious injuries that require admission to hospital
minor injuries receiving treatment at hospital

Percentage of injuries and fatalities based on age or mode of travel

of collision fatalities are of seniors (65+)
Approximately
of serious injuries and fatalities involve pedestrians or cyclists
of cycling injuries don't involve a vehicle