ONTARIO – Police say a motor vehicle driver, a motorcyclist, two off-roaders and a kayaker lost their lives in separate incidents over the Civic holiday weekend, making it the most tragic long weekend of the year on OPP-patrolled roads, trails and waterways.
Police added that these incidents mark the 145th vehicle occupant, 20th motorcyclist, 18th boater and tenth off-road vehicle rider deaths of the year in OPP jurisdictions.
An OPP release stated that officers laid 6,340 charges on roads, waterways and trails across the province.
Aggressive drivers posed a significant risk on highways and roads with 4,117 speeding offence notices issued and 116 stunt/racing charges laid between Friday afternoon and Monday at midnight (July 30 – August 2).
Locally, the Huron County OPP stated that they issued 57 speeding tickets during the long weekend.
Over the course of the week, South Bruce OPP officers laid 46 charges including 36 speeding charges.
Other Huron County charges included two drivers were charged with Stunt Driving, one with Impaired Driving, one was served a warn-range suspension, three were served with seatbelt offences and ten were served with moving violation tickets.
OPP officers across the province issued 126 offence notices to drivers who failed to slow down and/or move over for emergency vehicles and tow trucks parked on the roadside while providing assistance to motorists.
Huron County OPP was pleased to report there were no drivers charged under the Ontario’s Move Over Law requiring drivers to slow down and proceed with caution when passing an emergency vehicle or tow truck parked with its lights activated.
Among the province-wide offences were 199 seat belt, 95 alcohol/drug-impaired and 83 distracted driving charges, as well as 51 marine-related and 37 off-road vehicle-related charges.
Over the long weekend, South Bruce OPP investigated four motor vehicle collisions. A driver at one of these collisions is receiving treatment for life threatening injuries. There were no injuries reported at the other collision scenes.
Huron County OPP investigated a half-dozen reportable motor vehicle collisions during the weekend. A closer look at the crashes reveals two were caused by impaired drivers, two by careless/inattentive driving and the other two were of no fault of the motor vehicle driver.
Two of the crashes in Huron County involved serious injuries and two involved minor injuries.
OPP acknowledges and commends the many safe motor vehicle drivers who contribute to safe Ontario roads.
The public is asked to report concerning driving behaviour immediately by calling the OPP at 1-888-310-1122, or 911 for emergencies. Reports can also be submitted online at www.opp.ca/reporting.
