Police launch Thanksgiving weekend safety blitz
Posted October 5, 2012 6:00 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The OPP and Toronto police are teaming up with forces across the country to crack down on drivers whose habits make the roads less safe.
Operation Impact — which will take place over the Thanksgiving long weekend — will target drunk, aggressive and distracted drivers, people who speed and those who don’t wear seatbelts.
Officers will also make drivers aware of penalties for distracted driving and for not changing lanes to give parked emergency vehicles more space.
“Frontline OPP officers and vehicles will be highly visible throughout the Thanksgiving weekend period, maintaining a ‘zero tolerance,’ targeted enforcement approach toward drivers who place others at risk through bad driving behaviours,” says OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis.
“We will use all available resources, including OPP aircraft, to do our part to ensure Canada’s roads and highways remain among the safest in the world.”
So far this year, 249 people have died on roads patrolled by the OPP. Transport Canada says each death costs society $13.6 million.
The campaign runs from Friday until Monday.
