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HomeNewsOperation Safe Trucking cracking down on rules of the road, moving violations

Operation Safe Trucking cracking down on rules of the road, moving violations

The OPP investigates thousands of preventable Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) collisions every year, making it a serious road safety issue.

The OPP says, “We need all CMV drivers – and in fact, all drivers – to make a firm commitment to road safety. This will go a long way to reducing the number of collisions on our roads.”

Enter Operation Safe Trucking. This annual campaign focuses on enforcing the rules of the road and moving violations, specifically for CMVs. All this week, officers from the North Bay Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police will be on the lookout for these violations as part of Operation Safe Trucking. It is the latest initiative to support the OPP CMV Collision Mitigation Strategy, the goal of which is to reduce the number of CMV related collisions on OPP patrolled roadways.

In 2018, OPP officers in the North East Region investigated a total of 625 collisions involving commercial vehicles, in which 10 people lost their lives. So far this year (January 1 to June 30) the OPP North East Region has responded to 340 transport truck-related crashes. Two people have died in these collisions.

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The OPP is reminding the public that officers will be focusing on violations that are attributable to many CMV involved collisions, such as:

  • impaired driving
  • distracted driving
  • following too close
  • speeding
  • non-compliance with inspection
  • equipment and hours of service laws
  • load security
  • other moving violations

As officers gear up for their Operation Safe Trucking campaign, the OPP is reporting 4,816 CMV collisions so far this year.

Forty-six of the collisions have resulted in fatalities, with two separate incidents collectively taking the lives of five people. By this time last year, the OPP had responded to 4,666 CMV collisions, 39 of which were fatal.

OPP data analytics also reveal that 3,857 of the total number of CMV incidents this year were multi-vehicle collisions, in contrast to 959 incidents that involved a single vehicle.

CMV-related crashes account for 11 per cent of the 42,200 collisions on OPP-patrolled roads so far this year and have been linked to 30 per cent of the fatal crashes.

The OPP cautions that the data should not be interpreted as commercial drivers being at-fault in each of the collisions and that the responsibility also falls on drivers of other vehicles involved in the incidents.

“Improper lane changes, following too closely and driving too fast for the conditions remain leading factors in Commercial Motor Vehicle collisions on OPP-patrolled roads. If every commercial driver and motorist makes a commitment to be an exemplary driver who shares the road safely at all times, there is no question that we would see a dramatic decrease in these types of collisions,” said OPP Chief Superintendent Alison Jevons, Acting Provincial Commander, Traffic Safety and Operational Support.

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