Provincial police alarmed by increase in deadly crashes on Ontario roads
Distracted driving and aggressive driving leading causes of these fatalities
Some grim numbers from Ontario Provincial Police.
In a video posted to Twitter, OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said they are seeing a “disturbing trend” in fatalities on provincial roads this year.
94 deaths in road crashes this year, up from 87 in 2020. 12 of these happened in the GTA.
— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) June 4, 2021
Speeding and inattention are the leading causes.
5 drownings in the past 18 days, not one of them was wearing a life jacket. Please #DriveSafe, let’s not have another tragedy this wknd pic.twitter.com/ytVafT6lbb
So far, 94 people have died in 88 fatal road collisions this year compared to 87 deaths in 78 fatal crashes this time last year.
“Distracted driving and aggressive driving are the leading causes of these recent fatalities,” Schmidt said.
Speeding has caused 27 fatal crashes, while driver inattention has caused 16 fatal crashes in 2021.
According to provincial police, for the first five months of 2021, 36 per cent of fatalities on OPP-patrolled roads occurred in May. Police said 34 people died in 31 fatal crashes last month.
“A significant number of those killed in the crashes died through no fault of their own. They were either passengers or drivers who were driving properly when the collision occurred,” the OPP said in the release.
OPP Chief Supt. Rohan Thompson, commander of the OPP’s highway safety division, urged drivers to ensure they are driving safely.
“It is unacceptable that drivers continue to contribute to the deaths of innocent people because of their actions or condition behind the wheel. To have this occur — at a time when people are finally seeing signs that our lives may soon get back to normal — makes this particularly tragic and devastating for the grieving families,” he said in the release.
“Everyone has the right to be safe on our roads.”
