Preliminary data indicates OPP officers were kept busy on and off roads during the Victoria Day holiday weekend.
Police say officers investigated four deaths and laid thousands of charges to address poor driving behaviours.
During Canada Road Safety Week (May 15 to 21), the OPP laid more than 10,600 speeding charges, 175 of which were racing charges against motorists driving 50km/h or more over the limit. Both were increases over the same period in 2017.
Officers also laid 726 seat belt charges (up nearly 12 per cent), 424 distracted driving charges (12% decrease), 124 impaired by alcohol or drug charges.
One death occurred on a road in the OPP’s West Region that remains under investigation, while officers also responded to an off-road vehicle incident that claimed two lives in North East Region, and a drowning death in Central Region.
Locally, Wellington County officers were active on the roadways. A total of 300 charges were laid against drivers throughout the campaign; 263 drivers received speeding charges, three drivers were charged with driving while impaired by alcohol while nine drivers lost their vehicle for a week as a result of receiving a racing charge.
Other infractions included six seatbelt charges, five careless driving charges, four distracted driving charges and five fail to yield charges. Two drivers also received three-day suspensions for registering a “warn” on a roadside alcohol test.
Canada Road Safety Week is a national campaign aimed at educating drivers through awareness and enforcement about the “big four” causal factors in vehicle collision fatalities: impaired driving, distracted and aggressive driving and lack of seat belt use.
Though this specific campaign is over, police are reminding drivers officers remain vigilant to try to improve decision-making and change behaviours.
