The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

I task. Trying te improve traffic safety without accident data is a lot like trying to run a business without any nanialrecords. You mna nover know how youtre doing iu itfs too late. Saskatchewan recently introduced a system te allow municipal officiaIs access to provincial moter vehicle accident data files. British Columbia'has provided. custoznized data suniraries te local municipalities for several years. I hope Onitario is not far behind. The money now spent te maintain duplicate records and manually analyze data could be botter usedL to implement safety Air Conit9n5 INSPECTIA$79 - -ýý IVCLUÀI=IF> 37 MEMBER INSTALLER *Check Refrigeration System with. Manifold Gauges *Leak Detector *Check Compressor Clutch *Check Compressor and Drive Belts *Tesât Temperature at A/C Outlets. *FreonExtra (Includes 1/21b. freon if nec.) I _______ Today's colurnn la flot about safe drlvlng, lt's about safe roads, or at leastý how intergovernmental cooperation might make our roads alittie safer. Each year in Ontario alone more than 1,000 people are Illed and 120,000 injured in traffic accidents, and 0orrt damage is agproachini $ISbiion.Th ot of mei cars and police enforcement are also Increasin i faSter than our tax base can af0ord In order to set priorities and implement coat-effective Umprovements, trafficengner must be able to orrecty ident safety problems. Fortunately, with the amount of information (weather conditions, road conditions, light -conditions, direction of travel, driver action. J sequence of events, etc.) recorded by the plice for each reportable accident,- there la a wealth of statistical data available for analysis. The onlyr good thing about having 10,000 reportable acciden-ts each year may be that we build up an extensive database [ nafeaivl short period of time. Unfruaéy, there, is a critical fia w in how this data base is used, or rather not used. It's important to understand that years. of research went into developing the standard motor vehidle accident report formn now 'used by ail police forc-es ini Ontario. ~In addition te documentation for insurance dlaims and legal action the fonm was specifically designed tcollect informîation neoessary for trafic engineers te identify safety probleme. Police officiers are trained te accurately collect this information and they spend valuable' time interviewing drivers, passengers and witnesses te ensure the information is complete. After aIl the perwork is complete, a copy cfth e accident ~re t forn lis sent te the Ministry of rasportation where the information is entered inte a com puter file. This information is used by the ministry te develop policies (e.g. seat belt legislation) and identifyr problem areas on provincial hughwa~. cre Sfar, so god ueecoe the fiaw. Mucipal traffic engineers do not have access te these com uter records. If municipal oi cia.swant toanalyz acidnts in their juriadicton, t eg mncnsniinke nl ata somnethlng inherently wrong in manually analyzing computer- stored data. Ini any event, there is a duplication of efforts by two levels Iý Of government. The same inforination the Mfinistry of jTransportation enters into a coputer file is also recorded in a separate file by local municipal Accident data is critical te municipal -trafice engineers. W-ithout it answering even seemingly simple qetossc lat r?'1 _sasticons uin AUDIOIVDE Ail Servil P n ril Q Du'b'V~ f rh, _OnPremises * Written Guarantee *Low carry-in rates, ing L-UI1ic m Since 1973' *Factory Tra ined- Tech nicians ~p *VCR *Camcorder *Tlevision *Stereo *CD Player *Cassette *Cordless Phone *Amplifiers *Walkman *Car Sfereo VCRkXaV = = -- * Free cleaning [RE " Free estimate * With this add only * Expfr'es June 28/96 rRUE Custone* Electromotive 1150 Champain Court Whlitby 668-6429 car' habits' 1 For information on how to, save mnyby big"Auto$nmr,"al DRI VINOG SýAFEL9 with RANDY RANDY McLEAN IS A PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER WHtO SPECIALIZES IN TRAFFIC SAFETY. Mr. McLean has reviewed thousauids of Individuel motor vehicle occident :reports muidhle close workig relatiouishipe with police ageuicies, governments, safety associations, Iuidumtry anid the public, have gîven hlm a true overvlew of traflic safety Issues, probiems muid solutions lni Canada. Getnew ' By developlng new -me habits youd b. surprised at how much money you can save. HodaAnd ooa. Bu WBote * BSA GXE with, Automatic and 'Air NOW$ *ONLY 29 Xr onth Standard eoimnt ududsý, mong ofthéefkus *power windôws - locks - mirrors - steering and brakes - tinted glass.- cruise control - AM/FM cassette stereo 0* dual air bags * full carpeting - height'adjustable seat beits - remote trunk and gas release ï tilt* cupholders - side impact beams - overdrive transmission* 150 hp - mud flaps - side mouldings,* bumper to> bumper warranty with roadside assistance. If yoIirePfth, thé ",a this is 'ret vahie, goo-w.knew yWUd SU it otw way. 36 month lease with $1500. down, plus freight ($890), taxes, and Whltby Free Preas, Wekiosday, June 19, 1996, page 15 Let's share the information '~iIELPIServing Durham sin ce 1.981 IYHTBY AUTO GLAISS Wfe Con VV speciaIists ltd. With our FREE Mobile TOLL FREE 1-800-668-9747 Service, we will corne to' 6 8 2 0 your home or office. We also 62'0 3 do complete auto & marine 1013 Dundas St. E. Whitby upholstery, boat tops &. Mobile Service covers at our Port Perry Guaranteed Workrnanship locaion Askus!Our staff has more than 24 years expenience combined e t,-IMIK GENERAL AMERI 300 SL Ail Season Radiais' -'v 0 W~c2OI~ . 1 1