Long weekend commuters asked to travel carefully amid high fatality, injury rates

Commuters drive on Anthony Henday Drive in Edmonton on July 31, 2026. (Brandon Lynch / CTV News Edmonton)

Mounties and the Alberta Motor Association (AMA) are asking drivers to travel safely over the long weekend after fatal collisions involving excessive speed reached a five-year high in 2025.

Last year, excessive speed was found to be a factor in 14 crashes in each Edmonton and Calgary, the highest yearly total recorded in either city since 2021.

“Speeding really reduces our margin for error. We know that just going 10 (km/h) over the speed limit can double your risk of a collision, and going 20 kilometres over the speed limit makes your risk of a collision six times higher,” said Hannah Hamilton, AMA’s safe communities program manager, in a Friday interview.

“The road is a shared experience and the risk is not worth the few minutes you could possibly save.”

RCMP also issued a reminder, asking commuters to:

• not to drive impaired;
• avoid distractions;
• drive according to the road, weather and traffic conditions;
• wear a seatbelt;
• be mindful of other road users, including cyclists, pedestrians and off-highway vehicles which are more common in the summer; and
• inform loved ones of travel plans.

AMA said data shows speeding increases during the summer and long weekends, adding to the need to issue a reminder on Friday.

Overall, the rate of major traffic injuries and fatalities increased by 37 per cent in Calgary and 35 per cent in Edmonton between 2021 and 2025.

For the same time period, traffic fatalities doubled in Calgary and increased by 73 per cent in Edmonton, according to municipal data.

“I think speeding has been increasing year-round, probably since the photo radar and that was pulled off,” said one member of the public, Howard West.

“People are in such a hurry now that courtesy is second rate.”

Another, Jackson Mullin, added, “I do notice it. I especially notice a lot of motorcyclists splitting lanes, cutting lanes.”

Hamilton called photo radar a helpful tool to increase road safety, and said its absence underscores the need for reminders like Friday’s.

“Sometimes the way that we can come together in community in the most meaningful ways are the smallest ways, like on your daily commute, reminding yourself that you’re sharing the road with someone’s mom, someone’s child, and how you drive impacts their safety as well,” she said.

West said, “It’s not enforcement. That’s not the solution. It’s probably education. More respect for each other. That’s what the world seems to be lacking.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson