Thanksgiving road safety campaign sees rise in distracted driving: OPP

You will see an increased presence across Ontario highways this long weekend as Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) participate in Operation Impact which focuses on aggressive, impaired, and distracted driving and seatbelt safety. Police say they are seeing a concerning statistic when it comes to one of those four in particular.

“We’re definitely seeing an uptick in fatalities that result, or that stem from distracted driving,” said Sergeant Sami Nasr with the OPP.

According to provincial police, there’s been a 40 per cent increase in the number of fatalities caused by distracted driving. So far this year, 296 people have died on patrolled Ontario highways with 63 of those fatalities caused by a distracted driver. At this time last year, 287 people were killed in collisions with 43 of the deaths due to distracted driving.

Police say it hasn’t been a safe year for other road users either.

“Cyclists, this time last year, we’re already at 100 per cent increase for cyclists who have died, resulting from motor vehicle collisions,” said Nasr. “There’s also an 82 per cent increase for pedestrians and a 41 per cent increase in motorcycling deaths as well.”

Road users that CityNews spoke with said they were not surprised by the numbers.

“People looking at their phones, while moving, while you’re at a light or a stop sign …it’s rampant, everybody is doing it,” said one driver.

“I’m always nervous, I’m always saying ‘Look out that guy is going so fast, that guy is cutting in front of us,'” said another driver.

Provincial police are urging all road users to take extra care on the roads, not just for this Thanksgiving weekend, but all year round.

“There’s a reason why we call collisions, collisions and not accidents. Using our roadways is a shared responsibility,” said Nasr.

The annual traffic safety campaign wraps up on Thanksgiving Monday.