Brampton has more fatal and life-altering crashes than Mississauga and Caledon combined
Published April 20, 2022 at 11:43 am
Brampton is seeing an average of 50 victims seriously injured or killed on city streets as a result of car crashes every year.
Peel Regional Police (PRP) say there have been 499 motor vehicle collision fatalities or life-altering injuries in the Region between 2017 and 2021, and Brampton accounts for more than half of those incidents at 253.
That puts the five-year average of serious crashes in Brampton at 50 for one fatal or life altering crash almost every week.
Speaking at Brampton City Council on Wednesday, Insp. Peter Danos with PRP Road Safety Services said 2020 was an unfortunate “record year” for crashes in Brampton with 22 fatalities and 25 serious injuries on Brampton roads.
Just last week, one person was killed after a collision in the area of McVean Drive and Countryside Drive.
And on Monday, a young girl under the age of 12 was rushed to hospital after she was struck by a vehicle at the intersection of Sandalwood Parkway East and Richvale Road North in Brampton.
The city says there were upward of 1,800 requests for service to Brampton’s traffic operations group last year not including those made to the traffic signals group.
Danos said police have stepped up speed calming and traffic monitoring efforts by re-deploying officers to problem areas with “high instances of stunt driving and racing.”
Technology investments like automated speed enforcement and red light cameras have been effective speed calming measures in both Brampton and across the Region, he said.
And while Danos showed that 2021 data suggest fatal- and collision-related injuries “are trending downward,” the city is exploring a new Road Safety Committee to help curb the number of crashes in Brampton.
Council unanimously voted on Wednesday in favour of forming a new stand-alone Brampton Road Safety committee with input from the city’s current Community Safety Advisory Committee.
The committee will be formed by the next council after they are sworn in following Brampton’s municipal election on Oct. 24.
