AMA Directions

 
AMA Directions

Working for you

Since 1926, we have worked with members to:

  • Improve roads, bridges, public transportation and road safety.
  • Keep travellers and communities safe.

Our efforts have grown to focus on critical issues identified by our members relating to personal safety and mobility in the areas of:

  • Traffic Safety
  • Crime Prevention
  • The Environment as related to motoring
  • Protection for Travelers

Download a copy of AMA Directions 2009-2012 Download PDF

Your opinion matters

We routinely poll members and the public for their say on critical issues. We then create programs, activities and initiatives around the issues you say are important.


Members' opinion

How we've responded
96% think AMA should be actively involved in Traffic Safety

(2004 AMA Member Opinion Survey)

Created traffic safety programs:

  • AMA School Safety Patrol™
  • AMA Road Reports®
  • Mission Possible@Work
89% think AMA should be actively involved in Protection for Travelers

(2004 AMA Member Opinion Survey)
Provide travellers with consumer protection tips and speak out for:
  • Fair advertising, pricing and taxation
  • Personal security
  • Protection from travel industry failures
87% think AMA should be actively involved in Crime Prevention

(2004 AMA Member Opinion Survey)
Stop!Thief initiative and partnerships with:
  • Crime Stoppers
  • Neighbourhood Watch
  • Crime Free Multi Housing
92% think AMA should be actively involved in Environment as it relates to motoring

(2006 AMA Member Opinion Survey)
Provide information and practical tips to help you:
  • Use energy responsibly
  • Increase fuel efficiency
  • Lower maintenance and fuel costs

83% support AMA working to develop alternate transportation options for seniors

(2008 AMA Member Opinion Survey)
Created programs including:
  • Tips for aging drivers
  • Senior transportation roundtables
  • Community partnerships
  • Working with governments

Supported by the AMA Foundation for Traffic Safety, programs and initiatives are based on the most recent evidence and research

To remain current on important issues we monitor:

  • Up-and-coming issues with potential to affect members.
  • The most current research, best practices and other innovations.

Working with partners

We work with partners to share knowledge and skills, and explore new solutions to issues.

Our partners include:

  • University of Alberta’s Medically at Risk Driver Centre
  • Alberta Transportation
  • BCAA Traffic Safety Foundation

Our work with these partners has advanced our knowledge of:

  • Medical fitness to drive
  • Aging driver training
  • Dignified transportation alternatives for seniors

Did you know?

Partnerships have led to a set of engineering best practices to improve road design and traffic management to better accommodate the needs of an aging population. These best practices have been adopted as a national standard.

A few examples include:

  • Alberta Traffic Safety Guide to Accommodate Aging Drivers - contains a full list of traffic safety best practices that help aging driver. Considers the visual, cognitive and motor changes that happen as we age.
  • Black Spot Study - conducted in the 1990s to identify high-risk collision locations and make recommendations on engineering practices to minimize crashes at these sites.

AMA initiatives over the years


1927
  • AMA begins offering AMA Road Reports to motorists. Alberta the only province to offer road reports through a private/public partnership.
1937
  • AMA’s highway patrol appears on Highway #2 as a service for motorists travelling between Edmonton and Calgary.
1938
  • AMA begins a driver education program, which is now the largest Driver Education program in the province.
  • AMA establishes School Safety Patrol. Today, more than 17,000 young Albertans are involved in keeping their fellow students safe.
1940s
  • AMA actively involved in promoting the Alberta-Yukon and Alaska Highway military road projects.
  • At the end of WWII, AMA renews its efforts to promote building the Trans-Canada Highway. Legislation to build the highway is finally passed in 1949.
1957
  • AMA plays a key role in transforming the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA), which gives provincial clubs a stronger voice on issues of national importance.
1967
  • AMA successfully lobbies the province to create provincial rules-of-the-road.
1976
  • AMA starts lobbying the provincial government to legislate seat belt use. The Alberta government makes seat belts mandatory in 1987.
1980
  • AMA begins speaking out against impaired driving. Today, AMA delivers 2 impaired driving courses for the provincial government.
1992
  • AMA begins speaking out for an effective system of graduated licensing to improve the safety of new and young drivers.
2003
  • Provincial government implements Graduated Drivers Licensing (GDL) and AMA’s work to enhance it continues.
Traffic Safety

Traffic Safety

Our 2004 Member Survey Opinion show:
  • 96% think it important that AMA be active in traffic safety initiatives

Working for you…to make roads safer

Until 2012, our research efforts will focus on beliefs that:

  • Government programs and initiatives that increase awareness and understanding play a key role in helping improve traffic safety.
  • Governments must ensure there is enough traffic enforcement.
  • Photo radar and intersection safety cameras are useful tools to increase traffic safety, when properly used.
  • Drivers should focus on driving and avoid activities that could result in distraction.
  • Drivers’ use of wireless communication devices should be limited.
  • Enforcement of impaired driving laws must be enhanced.
  • Driver education is a valuable investment for drivers of all ages and occupations.
  • Graduated driver licensing safely introduces all new drivers to the risky driving environment.
  • Driver licensing system must consider that people age at different rates.
  • Seniors, and those no longer able drive, should have access to transportation options on their terms.

Programs and initiatives developed in response to members opinions

In response to member’s concerns, we've developed, and have been involved with, a number of traffic safety initiatives and programs:

Aging Drivers Initiatives
  • Provide refresher driver education courses.
  • Voice the needs the aging population.
  • Work with partners to create transit options that allow seniors unable to drive any longer to remain mobile.
Alberta Impaired Driving Program (AIDP)
  • Deliver 2 AIDP courses for the provincial government. Courses are for convicted impaired drivers needing education and assessment as a condition of licence reinstatement.

Alberta Traffic Safety Action Plan

We are focusing on:

  • Enhancing traffic safety research.
  • Addressing high risk behaviors through public awareness.
  • Improving road safety engineering and design.
  • Supporting enforcement programs that address excessive speed and intersection safety.
AMA Chair in Road Safety Research
  • Established Canada’s first multidisciplinary Chair position in partnership with the University of Calgary, Faculty of Engineering.
  • The Chair enhances made-in-Alberta traffic safety research and provides training for tomorrow’s road engineers.
AMA Foundation for Traffic Safety
  • This independent charitable foundation advances our knowledge of new road safety measures through research conducted by the AMA.
  • Research that has helped to reduce vehicle collisions, promote best practices in road safety engineering and improve access to transportation for seniors and those no longer able to drive include:
  • Rural crashes
  • Driver testing
  • Workplace safety
  • Driver distraction due to cell phone use
  • New safety engineering practices
  • Seniors transportation services
  • Medical fitness to drive
AMA School Safety PatrolTM Program
  • No one has been killed or seriously injured at a patrolled crosswalk since we began funding and coordinating the program in 1938.
  • Around 550 schools, and 17,000 Grade 5 and 6 students and their teachers participate in the program yearly.

Give Us Room to Work

  • Successfully advocated for new laws for those drivers who do not respect roadside emergency workers’ need for space and safety when performing their duties.

Mission Possible@Work

  • Offered to companies across Alberta, in Canada, the United States and overseas to improve employee traffic safety and to help employers reduce crashes.

Download AMA Directions 2009-2012 Download PDF

Travellers

Protection for Travellers

Our 2004 Member Opinion Survey shows:

  • 89% think it important that AMA be active in travel protection initiatives for consumers

Working for you…to protect travellers

We help keep travellers safe by:

  • Speaking out for fair advertising, pricing and taxation, personal security, and protection from travel industry failures.
  • Providing consumer protection tips on personal identity requirements and protection oversees.
  • Providing safety tips about hotel and financial security.

We also believe:

  • Governments must work with industry and consumers to create consumer protection laws.
  • Dedicated staff is needed to properly enforce, investigate, and prosecute related offences.
  • Fuel taxes, vehicle registration, and licence fees should go towards road projects that help mobility, offer transit choice (bus, train, car, etc) and safety, and respect the environment.

Where we are going

Until 2012, our research efforts will focus on beliefs that:

  • Consumers need protection from losses which can occur from bankruptcy or failure by travel services suppliers, e.g., airlines.
  • Consumers should choose where to have their vehicles serviced - either at a dealer or independent shop. The facility should have access to the information needed to complete the work.
  • The automotive sales industry should work together to simplify and improve its business practices to enhance consumer friendliness.
  • Enough money to maintain existing roads and to permit new projects is needed.
  • Motorists already pay enough fuel taxes, licences, and registration fees.

Programs and initiatives developed in response to members opinions

  • We developed AMA Road Reports® in response to members’ concerns about protection for travellers.
  • We have been providing travellers with road and highway condition reports since 1927.
  • We are working to expand AMA Road Reports® to an enhanced Advanced Traveller Information System (ATIS) through a variety of partnerships, including government, Parks Canada, and police.
  • ATIS will provide additional information and services that link Alberta with cities, other provinces in Canada, and the U.S.

Download AMA Directions 2009-2012 Download PDF

Crime Prevention

Crime Prevention

Our 2004 Member Opinion Survey shows:

  • 87% think it important that AMA be active relating to crime prevention

Working for you…to help prevent crime to your home, vehicle and identity

We are committed to helping reduce the impact of crime on all Albertans.

We support local community crime prevention efforts through:

  • Stop!THIEF
  • Crime Stoppers
  • Neighbourhood Watch
  • Crime Free Multi-housing

We think:

  • Governments must work with police and consumers to create consumer protection laws.
  • Dedicated staff is needed to properly enforce, investigate and prosecute offences.

Where we are going

Until 2012, our research efforts will focus on beliefs that:

  • Government and industry should begin consumer awareness and education planning to raise crime prevention efforts.
  • Vehicle theft is a serious crime and related laws and enforcement should be enhanced.
  • Government, industry and consumers share responsibility in preventing identity theft.
  • Insurance fraud increases the cost of insurance for everyone. Existing laws should be improved.
  • To reduce odometer fraud, all new vehicles in Canada need tamper proof odometers.
  • To prevent mortgage fraud, we need to improve detection, prevention, and enforcement.

Crime prevention actions

We have been actively involved in:

  • Promoting awareness and education about the many forms of fraud through partnerships with government, police and industry.
  • Developing the “All Valuables Removed” placard with municipal police services and RCMP.
  • Working with community crime prevention partners to make sure rental properties remain free of illegal activity.
  • Developing the Fraud Awareness Toolkit for Law Enforcement, which helps police deliver community based crime prevention programming.
  • Providing AMA’s annual shredding events.
  • Providing members with information and tools to protect themselves from mortgage fraud, identity theft, credit card fraud and vehicle theft.

Download AMA Directions 2009-2012 Download PDF

Environment

Environment

Our 2006 Member Opinion Survey shows:
  • 92% think it important that AMA be active in environmental issues relating to motoring

Working for you…to drive change

AMA is committed to fuel efficient driving and using energy responsibly.

We encourage all levels of government to:

  • Take leadership in working closely with industry and consumers.
  • Provide laws and programs that protect the environment from the effects of transit-related emissions, while balancing Canadians’ need to remain mobile.

Environmental issues related to motoring actions

AMA’s Energy Strategy:

  • Committed to putting an energy strategy in place to reduce energy use in our operations. A key part will be the energy audit.

Fuel Efficiency Awareness and Education:

  • Provide useful information to ensure responsible fuel use and reduce unnecessary idling.
  • AMA Centers’ idle-free zones encourage motorists to turn their vehicle off when visiting.
  • Promote alternative fueled vehicles

Did you know?

  • AMA tow trucks subject to strict maintenance practices to ensure energy efficiency.
  • AMA now offers new green batteries through our battery Express service.

Where we are going

AMA has plans to trim emissions from our business operations and to encourage staff and members to reduce theirs.

Until 2012, our research efforts will focus on beliefs that:

  • Promoting awareness and education around increasing the fuel efficiency of all road users is beneficial.
  • Regular vehicle maintenance increases fuel efficiency and reduced emissions.
  • Promote unnecessary vehicle idling can lower operating costs and reduce emissions.

Download AMA Directions 2009-2012 Download PDF