Reflecting On 2018

Thursday, 21 February 2019 07:43

The OPP is reporting the amount of fatal road accidents has gone down in the last year.

OXFORD COUNTY - The total amount of fatal road collisions has gone down over the past year, according to the OPP.

Officers responded to 72,060 collisions last year, causing 333 deaths which is ten less deaths from 2017.

Sgt. Laura Lee Brown for the West Region says the numbers have gone down but fatalities are still happening on the road.

"I think at anytime we reduce the fatalities on our roadways anywhere in Ontario it's something to be celebrated, but having said that any loss on our roads is one too many."

Brown says 104 of those 296 collisions came from the West Region, which resulted in 113 deaths.

She says while the numbers have gone down, drivers still need to pay attention at all times.

"The most important thing you can do is be alert and in control of your vehicle, and aware of your surroundings. We know that the four causal factors that we're continuously investigating and enforcing on Ontario roads are contributing factors in these fatal collisions. And they involve inattentive-related offences, speed-related, we look at seatbelts and alcohol and drug-related impaired driving. So there's lots of work that can be done by drivers across the region and across the province."

Among the four causal factors in 2018, 55 fatalities were inattentive-related, 76 deaths were due to speed, 50 deaths were seatbelt-related and 56 deaths were alcohol/drug-related.

OPP examined all categories of fatalities on OPP patrolled roads, waterways and trails, including motorcycle, off-road and boat-related accidents.

7,674 collisions involving transport trucks in 2018. 55 of the crashes were fatal and 1,142 of them resulted in personal injuries.

19 people died in off-road vehicle incidents in 2018, compared to 22 the previous year. More than 10 of the riders who died were not wearing a helmet and alcohol was a factor in 8 of the fatalities.

24 people lost their lives in boating incidents last year, down from 31 deaths in 2017. And there were 13 people killed in snowmobile incidents during the 2017-18 season, compared to 27 in 2016-17.

OPP also handed out 381,714 traffic-related charges under the Highway Traffic Act and Criminal Code in 2018.