To mark the National Day of Remembrance for Road Crash Victims, Justice Minister Suzanne Anton has issued the following statement:

“Nobody expects to be in a car crash when they leave their home in the morning, or plans to forget to look both ways when crossing the street, or thinks that checking one last text message at a red light will be the last thing they do. But too many times, these actions leave a family in British Columbia mourning the loss of a loved one.

“I can recognize the progress we’ve made: 260 lives saved since the introduction of our tough drinking and driving laws in 2010; tougher penalties on the horizon for distracted drivers; and a clear downward trend in deaths on our roads.

“Then I ask myself, how many deaths are acceptable? The answer is none. Last year, we had 290 British Columbians lose their lives in crashes. So many of these are preventable – by convincing people not to drink and drive, to put down their phone, or to stay within the speed limit.

“Today, we must remind ourselves that we have more to do to keep B.C.’s road users safe. For government, that means continued investments in road improvement infrastructure and adding tougher penalties to change driver behaviours. For British Columbians, it means being aware of road conditions and making good decisions behind the wheel, or as pedestrians and cyclists.

“Only together can we make B.C.’s roads the safest on the continent by 2020.”

To learn more about the Vision Zero strategy that B.C. and a number of international jurisdictions have adopted, please watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsyvrkEjoXI