WorkSafe BC, ICBC, Winter Driving Safety Alliance and the province are reminding drivers to plan ahead for winter driving.
The Safety Alliance are launching its 11th Shift into Winter Campaign on Tuesday (Oct 1). The campaign is used to help drivers make a safe transition into driving in winter conditions.
Mark Ordeman, WorkSafe BC Manager said accident numbers change drastically from 126 in October to 236 in December because of weather conditions.
“On average every year in BC the number of casualty crashes that happen due to driving too fast for conditions which in this case we’re speaking to winter conditions, it increases to 87 percent between October and December every year, so it’s a pretty dramatic change that we want to address,” he said.
The Alliance is reminding drivers to:
- Install a set of four matched winter tires.
- Give your vehicle a pre-maintenance check-up
- Keep an emergency kit in your vehicle
- plan ahead for weather conditions
- slow down and drive with extra care
- maintain a safe following distance and
- invest in winter driver training
Ordeman also said there has been more awareness for winter driving since the campaign began.
“We have seen year over year changes in terms of awareness so, we are really pleased about that and it really encourages us as we continue to do it going forward,” he said.
For more information on the campaign, go to shiftintowinter.ca.
Winter tires and chains for commercial vehicles are required to be on from Oct 1 until April 30.