Friday at 5 p.m. a bad time to drive in Waterloo RegionBy Gordon PaulWATERLOO REGION — Here's some advice that may be hard to follow: avoid driving in Waterloo Region on a Friday at 5 p.m. That's the day and time with the most collisions, according to a regional government report. The report found October was the month with the most crashes last year. That concurs with findings from 2011. In other years, December and January were the worst. The most common crash last year on regional roads was a rear-ender and the most common cause was following too close. Other statistics gleaned from the report: •10 people were killed in crashes in 2013, the same as 2012 but down from 15 in 2011. •1,965 people were injured last year, up from 1,898 in 2012. These numbers includes drivers, passengers, cyclists and pedestrians. •109 pedestrians were hit by vehicles, down from 154 in 2012. King Street at University Avenue in Waterloo led the way in 2013 with 12 pedestrians hit. •122 cyclists were hit, down from 130 in 2012. The worst corner was Cedar Street at King Street in Kitchener with seven collisions. •The number of crashes per 1,000 residents in 2013 was 11.1 That's the highest since 2007's 11.7 number but way below the record high. In 2002, it was close to 15. •There were 11 collisions involving horse-drawn vehicles last year, up from eight in 2012. •1.4 per cent of all crashes involved alcohol, down from 1.6 per cent in 2012, 1.5 per cent in 2011 and two per cent in 2010. •Intersections retrofitted with roundabouts see injury-causing collisions drop by about 35 per cent, the region says. The one anomaly is Homer Watson Boulevard at Block Line Road, where the annual average has gone from four injury crashes before the roundabout to eight today. The total number of crashes there has skyrocketed from about 10 a year before the roundabout to 72 a year now.
gpaul@therecord.com , Twitter: @GPaulRecord
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