(PERTH COUNTY, ON) This Canada Day holiday weekend the Perth County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is urging drivers, boaters, and off-road vehicle (ORV) riders, to work together to make it a safe one.
As in previous years, Perth County OPP officers will increase their patrols and visibility on Perth County Roads. Traffic enforcement and Reduce Impaired Drivers Everywhere (R.I.D.E.) programs will form a major part of the patrol strategy. In addition, “focused patrols” along the County’s paved east – west roads will receive extra emphasis.
The paved east – west roads consisting of Provincial Highways as well as County and Township roads tend to be heavily travelled on summer long weekends, as motorists use them to travel through Perth County back and forth to cottage and beach locations.
These being rural roads, they are heavily reliant on stop signs to control the flow of traffic at intersecting roadways. As such, it is vital that motorists obey the stop signs and take care to yield to traffic. Motorists on the through roadways should also been keenly aware of traffic on these side roads.
Within Perth County, statistics indicate that one quarter of fatal collisions are a direct result of failing to stop or yield at intersections. This percentage is similar for injury and property damage collisions at these intersections.
Therefore as part of the Canada Day holiday weekend and the subsequent summer weeks, Perth County OPP officers will be running “Stop and Look” campaigns. They will be focusing attention on intersection related offences where drivers fail to stop or yield where required.
Officers will focus their available time on all intersections, however a number of specific intersections have been identified as target areas. The chosen intersections have been determined as a result of public complaints or because of high historic collision rates.
“With the Canada Day Weekend approaching, I would like to remind all drivers travelling on roads within Perth County that they have the ability to make it an incident free weekend. Looking at last year’s Perth County OPP Canada Day holiday traffic statistics, I see much room for improvement in the choices road users should make, such as; obey speed limits, avoid distractions, refrain from drinking and driving, and avoid risky behaviour. Let’s all enjoy a safe weekend” – Inspector Steve Porter, Perth County OPP Detachment Commander.
Perth County OPP traffic statistics from Friday morning June 27, 2014 – Midnight on Wednesday July 01, 2014:
94 motorists were issued speeding tickets
2 racing charges (50 km/h over)
13 seatbelt charges
12 motorists received a ticket for distracted driving
9 for moving violations
23 other Highway Traffic Act tickets were issued
6 Liquor licence act tickets were handed out
3 charges of impaired or over 80mg/of alcohol
2 drug charges