Fatal crashes on P.E.I. 'avoidable' say RCMP

RCMP in P.E.I. say many of the 17 fatal collisions this year that killed 19 people were completely avoidable.

• P.E.I. highway traffic deaths in 2015

"We don't call them accidents because a lot of time there's human factor in there," said RCMP Sgt. Leanne Butler. "People make decisions and those decisions have consequences, and that's what we see in a lot of these collisions."

People make decisions and those decisions have consequences.- RCMP Sgt. Leanne Butler

Butler says of the 17 fatal collisions this year, six involved speeding, six impaired driving, and of those who died in a vehicle, seven weren't wearing seatbelts.

"For all members, whenever they come to a scene like that and have to tell somebody this has happened, it is hard when it is something we see as avoidable," she said.

"Don't drink and drive, put your seatbelt on, and slow down," Butler urged.

Butler says these aren't newproblems on P.E.I.: a study five years ago by Transport Canada showed fewer Islanders wore seatbelts than people in any other province.

• Seatbelts big factor in P.E.I. fatalities

And while numbers have been declining, P.E.I. hashad one of the highest drunk driving rates in the country.

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The president of the Charlottetown chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving says despite efforts to combat the problem on the Island, there's clearly room for improvement.

"There's more people being killed by these impaired crashes, and I think people are starting to realize their family member may be someone who's going to be injured or killed and I think they're more anxious now to get those calls out to RCMP," said Dalene Stewart.

Stewart is pleased more people are calling 911 when they suspect someone may be driving drunk.

Police say they're hoping all these avoidable deaths on P.E.I. roads willserve as a wake-up call to drivers so no one else has their life cut short unnecessarily.