Yellow lines are everywhere—showing us where to stand, how to drive, and when to watch out. They represent moments of decision—when we choose to take a risk or change our behaviour. But when they’re not there, it’s up to us to keep injuries preventable.

Injury is the leading cause of death for British Columbians aged 1 to 44-years-old, before cancer or heart disease. 2,000 British Columbians die from injury each year. That’s 1 person every 4 hours. This doesn’t even include the 35,000 who visit the hospital for an injury each year, or the 8,000 who are left with a permanent disability. When you add the cost of serious injuries ($4.5 billion dollars a year) on our health care system, prevention can save more than lives.

Too many British Columbians are still getting seriously injured because they behave as though preventable injuries won’t happen to them.

The Community Against Preventable Injuries (Preventable) is a non-profit organization designed to raise awareness, transform attitudes, and ultimately change behaviour. We’re continuing to remind British Columbians that injuries are, in fact, preventable, and that simple actions can make a difference.

 

Yellow lines often tell us what we already know.

Yellow lines often point out hazards. But in most places, injury prevention is a mindset where we make a conscious effort to draw yellow lines for ourselves. Every single one of us has a role to play.

Reminding ourselves to do simple things—like slowing down, taking a pause before acting, paying attention, not using the phone while driving, putting on a helmet, wearing a life jacket, watching for pedestrians and cyclists, storing household medications away from kids, using the right tools and safety equipment—can prevent injuries from happening.

We can all use a compassionate nudge, wink, friendly elbow-in-the-ribs at that moment of risk to remind us to take the simple actions and behaviours that will protect us so we can fully enjoy our lives.

Let’s keep it preventable.