The Safer Roads Alliance is a member-driven not-for-profit organization that works with its members to prevent highway fatalities and injuries across Alberta and Western Canada.

The work of the Alliance just simply wouldn’t be possible without our members – industry, municipal governments, and other community partners. Together we forge strategic partnerships with provincial governments and like-minded organizations to strengthen road safety messages and initiatives.

Now more than ever we see the need for a coordinated effort to address deaths and serious injuries on our roads. Government funding for road safety education has been reduced, leaving significant gaps in road safety initiatives particularly in rural communities.

We’re leading the charge to engage and educate communities in road safety; we’ll do so by helping drivers identify dangerous habits and teach them practical safer alternatives. By making positive changes to driving behaviours, we will save lives and reduce injuries on our roads.

Our education and advocacy efforts:

• Work with and support community organizations such as regional peace officers and the RCMP to amplify road safety messages and support their needs.
• Provide technical expertise to aid our members and communities in identifying road safety priorities and developing a road safety plan.
• Meet with provincial and municipal governments to advocate for road safety issues.
• Collaborate with road safety professionals to develop safe driving presentations and resources.
• Deliver topical educational monthly ‘safety moments’ to members and the public.
• Publish a bi-annual newsletter highlighting key initiatives from the Alliance, our members, and partners.
• Maintain a robust social media presence.

In 2021, the Safer Roads Alliance made a strategic shift from employee education and awareness toward a more community-centric approach. Alliance members and industry generally have robust road safety systems in place already, but the Alliance believes it could have a greater impact on road safety by working directly with communities to measure, benchmark, and support the refining and implementation of road safety plans based on community-specific data and analysis.

We have been able to facilitate this shift in focus through our partnership with the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF), a nationally recognized independent road safety research institute, and their Action2Zero assessment.

TIRF will provide their research and data analysis expertise to help communities pinpoint road safety priorities and the Alliance will in turn provide ongoing support to assist in implementing, measuring, and refining their road safety plans based on community data. Learn more about the action we are taking in Lac La Biche following an Action2Zero assessment in the following article.

There are lots of benefits that come from joining the Alliance – you can find that information here, or you can reach out to Debbie Hammond, our Executive Director, and who can provide additional details.