Motor Vehicle Collision
July 26, 2015
Time – approximately 4:00 am.
Location – Edwardsburgh/Cardinal Township
Just after 4:00 am police were called to a Single Vehicle MVC on Glen Smail Rd. in Edwardsburgh Township. The caller advised lights were still on in the vehicle and the driver appeared to have left the scene. Police attended and located a lone male on Glen Smail Rd who indicated he was the driver and lone occupant of the vehicle. He advised he had been traveling e/b on Glen Smail Rd. when a deer ran out in front of him, lost control, hit the left shoulder of the road and rolled his vehicle. Subsequent investigation led to the driver, a 19 year old male from Edwardsburgh/Cardinal Township being charged with Careless Driving.
Motor Vehicle Collision
July 25, 2015
Time – 12:20 pm
Location – Augusta Township
On July 25, 2015 at approx.12:20 pm police were called to Augusta Motorsport Park on Dixon Rd. in response to an ATV motor vehicle collision. Upon arrival the driver of the ATV had been taken to hospital via ambulance. The driver and lone occupant on the ATV was traveling upgrade when he fell and the ATV rolled onto him. The driver an18 year old male from Bastard-South Burgess Twp was taken by ambulance to the hospital in Brockville and transported to Kingston by air ambulance. The driver sustained serious non-life threatening injuries. Investigation is ongoing.
Impaired Driving
July 25, 2015
Location – Augusta Township
Police were conducting a RIDE check on Dixon Rd. in the Township of Augusta. Just after 10:00 pm a black Honda UCE entered the check. Open alcohol was observed in the vehicle and a strong odor of alcohol was coming from inside. The driver registered a fail on the roadside screening device, was arrested for Over 80 and transported to the Prescott Detachment where he provided samples of his breath. The driver, a 22 year old male from Ottawa was subsequently charged with Impaired Driving and Over 80 and is to appear in Brockville Court at a later date.
FROM/DE: Highway Safety Division DATE: July 27, 2015
SURVIVING FAMILY OF FALLEN OPP OFFICER TO SPEAK PUBLICLY IN SUPPORT OF MOVE OVER LAW
OPP Set to Conduct “Move Over” Education and Enforcement Campaign
(ORILLIA, ON) – For the first time, the surviving family of an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer who lost her life while on duty is coming forward to talk publicly about the impact her death has had on them since they lost her in a tragic roadside multi-vehicle collision.
On the afternoon of June 7, 2000, OPP Sergeant Margaret Eve of the Chatham-Kent Detachment and two of her colleagues executed a high risk take down on a subject vehicle they suspected was involved in an armed robbery near Windsor, Ontario. The officers were interviewing the occupants on the roadside outside of their three cruisers. Moments after the officers ascertained that the occupants were not involved in the robbery, a tractor trailer crashed into all three cruisers as well as the subject vehicle.
Sgt. Eve was critically injured and airlifted to a hospital in London. Sadly, two days later (on June 9), she succumbed to her injuries. The other two officers (Provincial Constables Pask and Sakalo) were seriously injured in the incident but survived.
Sgt. Eve was with the OPP for 14 years and was the first female OPP officer to die in the line of duty. She left behind a husband and two children. Senior Constables Michael Gula, James McFadden and Constables John Gregovski and Charles Mercier also died on duty while tending to a traffic-related incident on the side of the road (between 1989 and 1999).
These tragic and preventable deaths led to Ontario’s Move Over law in 2003. The law [Highway Traffic Act Section 159 (2)(3)] requires drivers to slow down and proceed with caution when approaching an emergency vehicle parked on the side of the highway with its lights activated. If the highway has more than one lane, the law requires the driver to move over and leave one lane between their vehicle and the parked emergency vehicle when it can be done safely. Failure to do so can result in fines from $400 to $2,000 and three demerit points for a first offence.
So far in 2015, the OPP has laid 763 Section 159 (2)(3) charges (to mid-June) which means that halfway through the year, drivers are paced to reach another 1500+ charges by the end of the year.
Over the Civic Day Long Weekend (July 31- August 3, 2015), the OPP will be conducting a Move Over education and enforcement campaign and are counting on all drivers to be mindful of this law. The increased traffic volumes over the weekend will result in a greater number of emergency vehicles on the roadside, making it particularly important to comply with this law and reduce the risk of injury or death to emergency personnel.
The OPP will also be looking to drivers to help keep roads safe over the long weekend by refraining from driving aggressively, while impaired or distracted, and by ensuring that all vehicle occupants are wearing a seat belt.