The BC Health Ministry says it's doled out more than a million dollars in grants to dozens of communities across the province this year to improve road safety infrastructure.
The ministry says the second year of its Vision Zero grant program has distributed funds to 59 communities to improve crosswalks and traffic calming measures, as well as speed-limit reduction pilot projects.
Health Minister Adrian Dix says the road safety grant program is especially important in rural and Indigenous communities, and preventing road-related injuries will lessen pressure on the province's health-care system.
The province says the funds are distributed to governments, Indigenous groups and others such as school districts through regional health authorities, noting that road injuries and deaths cost the health-care system 300-million dollars annually.
