How many died from accidents last year?
The year 2023 was a safer year in the Canadian transportation field compared to the previous five years, according to a report from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB).
This applies across all modes of transportation.
Rail transportation
Rail transportation once again proved to be the most dangerous mode of transportation in 2023.
Overall, TSB recorded 913 rail accidents in 2023, down from 1,008 in 2022 and from the 1,045 five-year average.
Of the 2023 accidents, 67 were fatal, resulting in 67 fatalities. The death count is two more than the previous year and above the five-year average of 63.
Fifty-three of these fatalities were from trespassing accidents compared with 51 in 2022.
“Trespassing accidents remain the primary cause of fatalities accounting for 79% of all rail fatalities, followed by crossing accidents, which decreased slightly to 13 fatalities in 2023 from 14 in 2022,” said TSB.
Eighty-seven of the 2023 accidents involved dangerous goods, a decrease from the 2022 total of 110 and below the five-year average of 115. Six accidents resulted in a dangerous goods release.
There were 24 accidents involving an uncontrolled movement of rolling stock last year, down from 37 in 2022.
Marine transportation
When it comes to marine transportation, there were 237 accidents in 2023, according to TSB. These include 199 shipping accidents and 38 accidents aboard ship.
The overall marine transportation accident count is lower than the 244 recorded in 2022, and the 258 five-year average.
Of the 2023 accidents, 66 involved commercial fishing vessels, a decrease from the previous year (74) and below the five-year average (82).
Nine of the 237 accidents in 2023 were fatal, resulting in 18 fatalities.
“Ten of these fatalities were from five accidents within the Canadian commercial fishing industry,” said TSB. “Commercial fishing is one of the most hazardous occupations in the country. Commercial fishing safety has been on the TSB Watchlist since its inception in 2010.”
Air transportation
Overall, TSB recorded 181 air accidents in 2023. Though the number was up from 166 in 2022, it was down from the 191 five-year average.
Among the 2023 accidents, 19 were fatal, resulting in 33 fatalities. In 2022, TSB recorded 24 fatal accidents and 34 fatalities in air transportation.
In 2023, there were 78 accidents involving commercial operators, up from 56 in 2022.
Meanwhile, there were 100 accidents involving private operations ((by recreational operators, holders of a private operator registration document, or others) last year, a decrease from 108 the previous year.
Pipeline transportation
Meanwhile, TSB recorded no pipeline accidents in 2023, down from just 1 in 2022. The five-year average was 0.8.
However, there were 68 pipeline incidents – up from 67 the previous year and down from the 85 five-year average.
There were a number of incidents in other transportation modes in 2023:
- 833 were aviation incidents, which is an increase from the previous year (727) and above the five-year average (685)
- 794 were marine incidents, which is a decrease from 2022 (968) and below the five-year average (925)
- 321 were railway incidents, representing a decrease from 2022 (374) but an increase from the five-year average (312)
