OPP encourages safe winter driving habits

The more than 33,000 road collisions on Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) patrolled roads last winter has the OPP asking road users to be part of the solution to reduce the number of preventable collisions over the 2014-2015 winter.

Poor driving behaviour — not poor weather or road conditions — was a primary contributing factor in many of last winter's single and multi-vehicle crashes, said the OPP.

Between Dec. 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014, a total of 33,334 collisions occurred on OPP-patrolled roads compared to 25,953 collisions over the same four-month period the year before.

The crashes resulted in deaths and numerous serious injuries, said the OPP. Among the injured were OPP officers who responded to these crash scenes and whose cruisers were struck by drivers who failed to adjust their speed to the conditions.

The OPP will be working closely with the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) to ensure that roads are kept as safe as possible over the winter months — but the OPP admits that they cannot do this alone.

"No other road safety partner can have as strong an influence on reducing the number of collisions during winter as drivers can through positive driving behaviour,” said OPP Deputy Commissioner Brad Blair, provincial commander of Traffic Safety and Operational Support. “During the winter months, the way people drive needs to be very different than the way they drive the rest of year. If every driver makes this critical change this winter, we will not have another chaotic winter that ends with a staggering number of collisions and the associated injuries and deaths."

Over the winter months, the OPP will be providing a steady flow of safety-related tips, information and reminders on its social media sites in an effort to keep motorists on track with safe driving behaviour and to keep them informed about winter driving issues on our roads. One strong and recurring message people can expect to hear over winter is the need for every driver to adjust their speed and slow right down when visibility and road conditions deteriorate and to avoid non-essential travel during these periods.

Another important message will be the need for all drivers to use their full set of headlights every day throughout the winter months. Far too many vehicles could not be seen by the drivers behind them last winter because their rear lights were not on. Using the full set of headlights is the only way to completely engage your rear lights and this is critical in helping to reduce the risk of collisions when driving in poor visibility.

The OPP will also be encouraging drivers to use MTO's Ontario 511 Traveller Information Services which provides easy access to up-to-date winter information on road conditions and road closures on provincially maintained roads. Ontario 511 also provides voice-activated, hands-free service. Drivers are expected to observe Ontario cell phone laws when using Ontario 511 while on the road and are encouraged to pull over to a safe location to use it as the safest option. Planning ahead and being prepared will help keep road users safe so help spread the word about Ontario 511.

Because drivers and passengers have many eyes on the road, they are in the favourable position of exerting an even stronger influence on reducing the number of collisions if they too take part in the OPP's social media dialogue on safe winter driving.