(AURORA, ON) – Almost four years into the implementation of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) international-award-winning Provincial Traffic Safety Program (PTSP), the OPP continues to build on the successes of the program to promote traffic safety on OPP patrolled highways and roadways.
Introduced in March of 2007, the PTSP is a proactive, intelligence-led approach to traffic safety that, initially, targeted “the big three†causes of injury and death in jurisdictions patrolled by the OPP; impaired driving, aggressive driving and failure to use occupant restraints.
While the number of road fatalities was higher in 2010 (330) than in 2009, (310), there remains an overall 28 per cent reduction in fatalities from the 2005-2007 three-year period prior to implementation of the PTSP.
The program has also resulted in an overall reduction in year-over-year collisions and the personal injuries that result from these crashes. In 2008, the OPP investigated 74,196 collisions in which there were 16,767 persons injured. In 2009, collisions were reduced to 69,560 with 14,779 personal injuries collisions. In 2010, there was a further reduction in collisions to 69,218 in which 14,737 persons were injured.
According to research conducted by the Canadian Automobile Association, distracting driving has become the number one road safety concern among Canadians. While texting and driving has been identified as a key problem, other driving behaviours that distract drivers are also a concern. The OPP, in its unwavering commitment to traffic safety will be targeting this issue by adopting distracted driving as its fourth major pillar of the Provincial Traffic Safety Program to ensure that we can maintain our commitment to keeping Ontario roadways amongst the safest in North America.
QUOTES
â€The unprecedented reductions we are seeing in the number of deaths, personal injury and vehicle collisions across the province have earned us international recognition as a world leader in traffic safety and we will continue to improve on our ability to save lives on our roads through enhancements to our PTSP.â€
* Chris Lewis, Commissioner, Ontario Provincial Police.
“The overall 28% reduction in deaths resulting from fatal collisions speaks volumes about how effective our work is in saving lives on Ontario roads. Despite our continued success, we need to address emerging trends that may be contributing to increased road fatalities and injuries. As such, we will be developing our PTSP to include “distracted driving†as a fourth causation factor and we will continue to use our resources effectively so that we can create an even greater impact on the safety and security of the citizens of our province
– Larry Beechey, Deputy Commissioner, OPP Traffic Safety and Operational Support.
The success of the PTSP has gained international recognition. In October 2009, the OPP received two prestigious awards from the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) in Denver, Colorado. The IACP recognized the PTSP with the Webber Seavey Award for Quality in Law Enforcement, and the Law Enforcement Challenge — Special Category for its Speed Management Program.
QUICK FACTS
o The Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) ranked the distracted driver as its number one concern on the roads in 2010.
o While over 90% of teen drivers say they don’t drink and drive, nine out of 10 say they used a cell phone while driving. (U.S. National Teen Driver Survey 2008)
o The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration calculates that 16 percent of all fatal collisions involve a distracted driver.
o Drivers on mobile phones are more impaired than drivers at .08 Blood Alcohol Concentration (University of Utah Study).
LEARN MORE
o Provincial Traffic Safety Program
o Canadian Automobile Association (http://www.caa.ca/newsroom/newsroom-releases-details-e.cfm?newsItem=42&yearToShow=2011)
o The Dangers of Text Messaging and Driving (http://bcove.me/2dz9u4fv)
o www.opp.ca