Image courtesy Ministry of Transportation

Prince George, B.C. – A review  of  the  impact of  speed changes  on some B.C. Highways  has mixed results.

The Province had conducted a major review and consultation process before deciding to change the limits on some highways in B.C.  There were no speed increases on highways north of 100 Mile House .

Since the  speed limits were increased on  33 sections of  highways  in the Province,  the  number of serious collisions  has increased on  seven  of those sections where the limits were increased, but  the major contributing factor was not  the speed,  rather it was  distracted driving.

28% of all crashes in these areas were primarily caused by distracted driving up from 22% of crashes in the previous decade.  Driving faster than the posted speed limit was a contributing factor in only 2% of the crashes.

The Coquihalla from Hope to Kamloops,  where the speed limit was increased from 110 kilometres per hour to 120 km/h, continues to see the lowest crash rate in the last 10 years.

“Of particular interest, the data shows that we saw the crash rate increase on seven sections of highway where people were actually travelling slower,” said Minister of Transportation Todd Stone “This suggests again that there are many different factors that can lead to crashes and speed is only one of them.”

It’s too early to say  if the  initial data  indicates a trend.  Researchers  who  produced the review  say  they would need data from three years to pin point trends.