(PERTH COUNTY, ON) – Perth County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers played a major part in this year’s Canada wide “Operation Impact” (which ran from 12:01 a.m. on Friday October 9th – and ended at midnight on Monday October 12th).
Officers responded to a high number of calls for service during the weekend and investigated 14 traffic collisions.
– A fatal collision involving a car with a single occupant that left the roadway in Topping
– A motorcycle crash near Monkton in which the rider failed to negotiate a curve and sustained serious injuries
– A pickup truck with four teenagers that left the road and landed in a field east of Donegal resulting in injuries to all occupants
– A two vehicle collision on Line 40 near the Stratford Airport in which two persons were injured
– Five minor property damage collisions
– Four car deer collisions
– A car porcupine collision south of Listowel
As part of “Operation Impact”, officers maintained a ‘zero tolerance’, targeted enforcement approach towards drivers who were placing others at risk by their poor driving behaviours. Officers conducted five R.I.D.E. (Reduce Impaired Drivers Everywhere) programs throughout the county, and extensively patrolled Perth County roads looking for aggressive and distracted drivers as well as those who failed to wear seatbelts.
During the campaign, a total of 61 drivers were charged with speeding. 4 received seatbelt tickets while 2 were charged with distracted driving, and 24 were given a ticket for hazardous moving violations.
The “Fall Seatbelt Campaign” which ran from September 23rd to October 9th, 2015, and concluded just prior to the start of “Operation Impact”, resulted in a total of 60 motorists in Perth County being charged for seatbelt violations.
“Looking at the traffic enforcement numbers in Perth County for the past two weeks I am disappointed that our officers are still seeing vehicle occupants not wearing their seatbelts. After 39 years of seatbelt laws in Ontario I had hoped that this number would be lower. The collision numbers during the Thanksgiving weekend and the number of charges laid during “Operation Impact” are also too high. The motoring public has to take their driving seriously as road safety affects all of us.” Staff Sergeant Joel Skelding Perth County OPP