OPP holding Thanksgiving long weekend safety blitz
Posted October 8, 2021 7:33 am.
Last Updated October 8, 2021 8:32 am.
Ontario Provincial Police will be out in full force this Thanksgiving long weekend for their Operation Impact safety blitz.
During the four-day campaign, officers will be on the lookout for alcohol and drug impaired driving, aggressive, inattentive and distracted driving, as well as lack of seatbelt use.
“We are really seeing a return to traffic volumes across the province,” says OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt.
“This weekend many people are going to be out travelling, visiting family, visiting friends. Now with volumes, congestion returning to pre-pandemic levels, people need to be aware of how quickly traffic can change.”
RELATED:
-
Ontario’s top doctor releases guidelines for Thanksgiving, Halloween
-
What is open/closed for Thanksgiving weekend?
Schmidt says the big four behaviours are the main causes of death and injury on provincial roadways.
“The OPP along with police services all across the nation are going to be focusing on traffic safety and those big four issues we always talk about, impaired driving, distracted driving, aggressive or speeding, and people not wearing their seatbelts.”
So far this year there have been 208 deaths on OPP patrolled roads. Police say the majority of the road fatalities could have been avoided with speed linked to 51 deaths, distracted driving linked to 35, no seatbelt linked to 34 and impaired driving a factor in 23 deaths.
Provincial police have responded to more than 39,400 motor vehicle collisions this year.
