Responding Thursday to a report that, in part, found a disproportionately high amount of northern B.C. residents are killed in motor vehicle crashes, Transportation Minister Todd Stone said action is being taken to lower the numbers both regionally and province wide.
Only 6.3 per cent of B.C.'s population lives in the area covered by Northern Health, but their proportion of deaths on the road is more than twice that, according to the report from Provincial Health Officer Dr. Perry Kendall, released Thursday.
"Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Reducing the Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes on Health and Well-being in B.C.," analyzed fatal crashes 2008 and 2012 in a search for causes and produced 28 recommendations.
Among them is one calling more rumble strips and barriers, improved weather warning systems, measures to reduce conflicts with wildlife and better systems for responding to crashes in remote areas.
In a teleconference, Stone said the government is "very focused" on improving infrastructure and played up ongoing four-laning of the so-called Cariboo Connector along Highway 97 south as one way the government is working to reduce fatalities.
"While we're now at about at about 50 per cent [for] three to four lanes and we've invested over $400 million on that corridor in the last decade, there is more work to do and we're doing it," Stone said.
Further improvements to safety along Highway 16 from Prince George to Prince Rupert were also mentioned.
Stone said a record level of median barrier is being added on highways in the province, more rumble strips are being put down than ever before and wildlife protection systems are being piloted in the East Kootenays.
One of the reasons cited in the report for higher fatalities in northern B.C. is access to rescue services to get victims to hospitals more quickly.
Stone said increasing access to emergency services is something the government will pursue.
He noted he and Health Minister Terry Lake are MLAs for ridings in Kamloops and said that city's hospital is the busiest trauma centre in the southern Interior.
"Obviously, this is something that registers close to home," Stone said.
According to the report, between 2008 and 2012, the fatality rate in northern B.C. was 18 per 100,000, significantly higher than the B.C. average of 6.9. During that period, there were 38 fatalities in this region.
Moreover, the hospitalization rate stood at 134.9 per 100,000, also well above the average for the province of 85.
