Wellington County OPP lay dozens of charges during ‘Operation Impact’

Several drivers will be digging deep to pay some hefty fines from Wellington County OPP over the Thanksgiving long weekend.

Like many other police services across the country, the OPP’s Fergus detachment took part in Operation Impact.

It’s an initiative that targets what police call the Big Four factors linked to fatal crashes — aggressive driving, alcohol or drug use, distracted driving, and lack of proper seat belt use.

Between Oct. 5 and Oct. 8 police in Wellington County laid 59 speeding charges, five stunt driving charges, eight seat belt-related charges, three distracted driving charges and six impaired driving charges.

Const. Josh Cunningham said there are some drivers who do not respect driving.

“Just looking at racing and impaired driving alone, these are people who aren’t considering other people’s lives and safety when they get out there and do these hazardous things,” he said in a phone interview on Wednesday.

Three people, including a mother and her son, were also killed in a crash near Rockwood on Saturday night.

Cunningham said speed and the road condition may have been factors in the two-vehicle collision, but it doesn’t appear alcohol or distracted driving played a role.

He said OPP are trying to remind drivers to adjust to the conditions of the road this time of year.

“They need to make the mature and educated decision to slow down. Any driver should be able to make adjustments,” Cunningham said.

Guelph police and Waterloo police also took part in Operation Impact, but their weekend statistics were not immediately available.