(HURON COUNTY, ON) – The results are in for the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Spring Seatbelt Campaign conducted this past weekend. The campaign started on April 2nd and finished up on April 5th. Huron County OPP reported a total of 34 drivers were charged with seatbelt violations.
This number ranks second highest out of 14 West Region OPP Detachments; Essex County had 34 charges laid.
This number of charges laid during the four day campaign represents a third of all the seatbelt violations (102) for Huron County in all of 2020.
Huron County OPP officers focused all available patrol time on targeted enforcement of Ontario seatbelt laws during the campaign. Unfortunately, the goal of 100 per cent seatbelt compliance was not achieved however the efforts made by Huron OPP members will hopefully help some drivers change their ways. Huron County OPP investigated a total of six reportable crashes during the seatbelt campaign with one of them being a fatal crash that claimed the life of senior from Goderich. There was also a three-vehicle crash in Goderich on Easter Monday and four vehicle-deer related crashes.
Always remember, at any given second an aggressive, impaired or distracted driver can collide with your vehicle, subjecting the body of an unrestrained driver or passenger to a level of crash force from which few people survive. You may not be able to stop a dangerous driver from crashing into your car, but by wearing a seatbelt, you can greatly reduce their chances of killing you.
Huron County OPP would like to thank the vast majority of drivers that took the two seconds to buckle up. Please continue to do so and for those that were charged during the campaign hopefully you will take the necessary action to keep yourself safe in the future.