With a rise in the number of collisions involving transport trucks, authorities will be keeping a closer eye on provincially-patrolled roads over the next week.
Operation Safe Driver is a joint initiative involving the OPP, Ministry of Transportation, and other road safety partners, which runs July 9 through 15.
In 2022, the OPP responded to 9,110 collisions that involved a transport truck, marking the highest number of transport truck-related crashes on OPP-patrolled roads in more than 10 years. The incidents, which accounted for 12 per cent of overall collisions last year, resulted in 71 fatalities, the majority of which police say were preventable.
Improper lane changes, following too closely and speed were the top primary causes in the collisions, but authorities say truck drivers aren’t the only ones to blame. Of the 2858 OPP-laid charges in transport truck-involved collisions last year, 1098 were issued to drivers of passenger vehicles.
Provincial Police are reminding all drivers that the importance of road safety lies with all drivers when travelling near large commercial vehicles.
