Two Dead Over Long Weekend

(HURON COUNTY, ON) – Province wide the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) responded to two road fatalities over the long weekend during their provincial Distracted Driving campaign.

The first collision occurred near French River on Friday, September 1, 2017, claiming the life of a 25-year-old woman. The second incident involved a motorcycle colliding with a motor vehicle on Monday, September 4, 2017. The 59-year-old male motorcyclist succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday morning.

Many drivers ignored the OPP’s pre-weekend warnings about the serious threat they pose on our roads when using their cell phones, other hand-held devices and engaging in other forms of distraction while driving.

Officers laid 444 distracted driving charges throughout the weekend, bringing the 2017 year-to-date number of charges close to the 9,000 mark.

Locally in Huron County no drivers were charged with Distracted Driving offences during the campaign. Huron OPP officers laid a total of 73 charges during the campaign with the bulk of the charges for speeding (44). There were two marine charges and one alcohol warn range suspension handed out as well.

During the campaign period there were four motor vehicle crashes investigated by Huron OPP officers. Two collisions involved animals on the roadway, one where a driver fell asleep and the fourth was a minor parking lot collision.

The OPP also reported that July and August saw particularly high numbers of road deaths.

A total of 92 people died on OPP-patrolled roads between July 1 and August 31, 2017 – the highest number of deaths over this two-month summer period since 2010.

So far this year, 208 people have died in road crashes, along with 24 boating and 13 off-road vehicle fatalities.

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