three panes of equal width, with the first two representing scrolling on a phone and the third reading: "Your licence. Swiped faster than your feed."

Gone in a Flash

National Safe Driving Week

Driving represents freedom and independence — until a split-second lapse takes it away. National Safe Driving Week reminds drivers how quickly distraction can cost everything: your safety, your licence, and your future.



Freedom



Independence



Mobility

Watch what distracted driving really looks like.

Distraction is loosely defined as any activity that takes your full focus off the road. It can take on many forms, including mental distraction, eating behind the wheel, adjusting navigation and infotainment systems and, of course, the ever-present cell phone use behind the wheel. However defined, the consequences are serious and potentially life-altering.

A Persistent Threat

Distraction remains one of Canada’s deadliest driving behaviours.

A 2021 Transport Canada estimate points to distraction as a contributing factor in more than 1 in 5 fatal collisions (22.5 per cent) and more than a quarter of serious injury collisions (25.5 per cent.)

The Traffic Injury Research Foundation further identifies that young drivers between 16-19 were most likely to have been distracted, with 20.6 per cent of fatally injured distracted drivers being found in that age bracket.

This is tied for the most represented age group, along with drivers aged 65 and up.

Distraction is a factor in...

Fatal collisions

Serious injury collisions

Source: Transport Canada

{

Millions travel Ontario roads each day. You’re the most important safety feature of your vehicle. Staying focused when you’re driving helps protect everyone around you. Safety isn’t individual, it’s something we share.

Shara Bierman

President

Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario

{

Life can change in a flash when driving distracted! Talk with your broker about the negative impact distracted driving has on public safety, your driving record and insurance premium.

Karim Mouait

President

Insurance Brokers Association of Alberta

{

Every time you get behind the wheel, you’re sharing the road with someone’s loved one. In 2024, distracted driving accounted for 28% of fatal accidents in B.C., second only to speeding. Making safe choices – leaving your phone alone, slowing down, staying alert, and driving sober – saves lives and helps everyone get home safely.

Amrit Sidhu

President

Insurance Brokers Association of British Columbia

{

From covered bridges to coastal highways, New Brunswick’s roads carry our stories. Driving safely ensures those stories continue.

Lori Thebeau

President

Insurance Brokers Association of New Brunswick

{

A life can change in an instant. As brokers, we want to see everyone make it home safely — eyes on the road, hands on the wheel.

Bill Buckingham, CAIB & CRM

President

Insurance Brokers Association of Newfoundland and Labrador

{

In PEI, road safety is a shared responsibility. We must remain focused on the task at hand; don’t let a moment of distraction take over, because everything could be Gone in a Flash.

Tabetha Carr

President

Insurance Brokers Association of Prince Edward Island

What's at Risk?

Freedom and image.

A serious crash or licence suspension can mean months (or more) without your car. Your freedom is on pause, to say nothing of your social life.

Financial cost.

Even a minor collision can lead to costly repairs, fines, and spiking insurance premiums.

Physical harm.

Your safety, and that of your passengers, pedestrians, and strangers, is non-negotiable. And unfortunately, bodies break much easier than habits do.

If you think “it won’t happen to me,” that’s not uncommon. Many people to whom collisions happened had the same mentality at the time.

Don’t think you’re an exception to actions having consequences.

Every alert, every song change, every text message and Instagram post can wait. Your freedom can’t. Stay present, eyes forward and locked in on the road ahead and on your surroundings. Protect what driving represents — your future, your friends, your life.

Because everything you value can be gone in a flash.

For more information, please contact:

	Lewis Smith Manager, National Projects Canada Safety Council lewis.smith@safety-council.org
	Sonia Sache Senior Communications and Marketing Manager Insurance Brokers Association of Canada ssache@ibac.ca