Fatal collisions rising in Saskatchewan as RCMP investigator sees same preventable mistakes

That remains difficult for Topping to understand, particularly because he said wearing a seatbelt is such a simple way to reduce the risk of dying in a collision.

“I don’t know if people just assume it’s not going to happen to them and take such a huge risk when you don’t have to,” he said. “It’s preventable. Putting a seatbelt on takes next to no time, and once you build that habit, you don’t even realize that you’re doing it.”

So far this year, 72 people have died in collisions in Saskatchewan. That’s an average of more than nine deaths a month and puts the province on pace for about 113 traffic deaths in 2026. That would make it the deadliest year since 2018, when 129 people were killed, according to data from SGI.

The increase in fatal collisions doesn’t just affect the people involved. It also leaves a mark on the first responders who arrive at the scene.

Lyle Karasiuk, director of public affairs with Parkland Ambulance, said paramedics often move from one serious call to the next.

“Sometimes [they] don’t have the time to process what the heck just happened on the last call or even two calls ago till they have a bit of downtime where they can start to say to their peers, ‘Wow, what happened?'”

He explained the stress of a fatal collision can begin before paramedics even arrive.

They often have limited information from 911 dispatch and don’t know what they’ll find when they pull up to the scene.

Karasiuk said paramedics immediately begin assessing the situation, looking at how many people are injured, what resources are needed, whether traffic is being controlled and whether bystanders are providing first aid.

When multiple people are injured, he said, “We need to triage. We need to sort out from all the people that are injured, who is the number one priority based on their injuries, who’s the number two priority, who’s the number three priority.”

That can mean treating someone who still has a chance of survival while knowing another person at the scene has already died.

Once someone is determined to be deceased, they become the responsibility of police and the provincial coroner service.

For Topping, that is when another part of the work begins.

Investigators document injuries, inspect vehicles, review photographs and analyze information collected at the scene to determine what happened.

But the work doesn’t necessarily end when the scene is cleared.

Even after years of attending fatal collisions, Topping said it never gets any easier.

“There’s some scenes that are definitely harder to kind of put past. Sometimes it takes a day or two,” he said.

One way Topping deals with those experiences is by thinking about his own family and making sure they understand the importance of making safe choices on the road.

“Knowing that they’re wearing their seatbelt, knowing that they always have a safe ride home, whether it’s through a friend or through us, is something that I share with my family to just kind of keep them as safe as possible.”

For the people involved in a fatal collision, the consequences can last a lifetime.

For the first responders who attend those scenes, the memories can last long after they drive away.

After seeing hundreds of collision scenes, Topping said the message has never changed: don’t drink and drive, don’t text and drive, and wear your seatbelt.

Preventing another collision, he said, could spare both families and first responders from having to live with its consequences.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com

by Nick Nielsen

Fatal collisions rising in Saskatchewan as RCMP investigator sees same preventable mistakes

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