OPP reporting fewer road deaths in 2018

Provincial police are reporting fewer deaths on OPP-patrolled roads in 2018.

There were 333 people killed on OPP-patrolled roads in 2018 — and that’s 10 fewer people than the year prior.

The OPP released their annual fatalities figures from last year, which saw road deaths decrease in all but one of the “big four” categories.

There were 50 seat belt related deaths, one fewer than in 2017. There were 56 deaths related to alcohol and drugs, two fewer than the year before. There were 76 deaths that were speed related, one more than the previous year.

And there was some encouraging news when it comes to distracted driving.

OPP say there were 55 deaths in 2018 that were related to inattentive driving, the lowest yearly total in almost a decade. There were 82 deaths from inattentive driving in 2017.

There were 7,674 collisions involving transport trucks in 2018, marking a four-year high. Fifty-five of the crashes were fatal and 1,142 of them resulted in personal injuries.

It wasn’t just the roads, either. Provincial police also reported fewer fatalities on OPP-patrolled waterways and trails last year.

There were 19 deaths in off-road vehicle collisions, compared to 22 in 2017. Thirteen people were killed in snowmobile incidents, compared with 27 the winter before.

In 2018, 24 people died in boating accidents, seven fewer than in 2017.

In total, the OPP responded to 72,060 collisions in 2018, compared with 68,782 in 2017.