The Saanich Police Department is committed to driver safety and keeping our roads safe for travel.   Through Saanich Safer Cities we work in partnership with ICBC and the Municipality of Saanich to ensure we approach road safety with a three pronged focus of education, enforcement and engineering.   We provide education in the form of presentations from our School Liaison Officers, through the various media outlets, and through the Saanich Police Dragster Program.

Enforcement efforts are targeted toward corridors that experience a high frequency or high level of severe crashes, and we focus on the driving behaviours that result in the crashes.   We dedicate over 10% of our uniformed resources specifically to traffic enforcement and crash investigations.   Our patrol officers also focus on traffic enforcement along with their other duties.

We work with engineering to determine what can be done to the design of the roadway or intersection to make it safer for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.

The Saanich Police Department is doing what we can to alter driving behaviours to reduce the number and severity of crashes, but we cannot do it alone.   Even with the partnerships we enjoy, we require more help.   In the past, education and enforcement efforts have been focused on the driver.   Although these efforts have some impact, there are differing opinions as to the longevity of those impacts.   We believe that driver and road safety must be part of conversations between parents and their children, and the conversations have to occur frequently.

If your young child was attending an area where there was a known threat of a predator targeting children, we are certain that parents would talk to their kids prior to leaving the house.   They would remind the kids of how to stay safe and avoid strangers.  When the kids came home the parents would check in to ensure that they did not engage in any dangerous activities.   The dangers facing young drivers are not predators; rather the dangers are the cars they are driving and their own inexperience, and the crashes that result.   To avoid these dangers we believe young drivers need the same attention you would give to children facing other dangers.

Please help us keep the roads safe, and avoid the pain and loss that comes from having your child involved in a serious crash - talk to your kids, so we don't have to talk to you.

Other Links:

For driver safety information and tips visit the Canada Safety Council website at:  Canada Safety Council - Traffic Safety Tips and Information

Visit the ICBC website and read "Navigating the teen driving years - A resource guide for parents".  You can also print out or download their 'Family Contract' that can set out expectations between parents and teens regarding driving.

"Conversations" - Public Forums for Parents of Young Drivers and Passengers - follow the link to get more information on the public forums concerning young drivers and passengers.