Operation Impact is a national traffic initiative to save lives and reduce serious injuries and carnage on our roads through increased public awareness and compliance with traffic safety laws, the OPP said in a news release.
Starting Oct. 5, officers will increase their visibility and focus on what's known as the Big Four: impaired driving, aggressive driving, improper or lack of seatbelt use, and distracted driving — factors that continue to be the primary sources contributing to serious injuries and deaths in motor vehicle collisions, said police.
The other part of this national initiative involves OPP officers educating motorists about traffic laws, such as distracted driving and the Move Over legislation.
“Frontline OPP officers and vehicles will be highly visible throughout the Thanksgiving weekend period, maintaining a ‘zero tolerance’, targeted enforcement approach toward drivers who place others at risk through bad driving behaviours,” said OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis. “We will use all available resources, including OPP aircraft, to do our part to ensure Canada’s roads and highways remain among the safest in the world.
Greater Sudbury Police Service will also be out in full force, said Police Chief Frank Elsner.
“The vast majority of motor vehicle collisions on our roadways whether they involve minor damage or tragic consequences are the result of carelessness behind the wheel and are preventable,” Elsner said. “Operation Impact serves to remind people that an essential part of enforcement is to save lives and make our streets and roads safer.”
Police choose the Thanksgiving long weekend, because more people are travelling and traffic crashes are more frequent.
Thousands of people die in alcohol-related crashes annually every year, according to Greater Sudbury Police Service. Furthermore, not buckling up is the No. 1 cause of death in collisions. Aggressive driving is a factor in 39 per cent of fatal collisions, and drivers are 23 times more likely to be in a collision while texting.
