Hamilton’s number of motor vehicle collisions dropped sharply in 2020

There’s been a big reduction in the number of driving infractions and motor vehicle collisions in Hamilton during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A report will be presented to the city’s police services board on Friday, showing a 36.6-per cent decrease in motor vehicle collisions in 2020.

The figures show that Hamilton police responded to just over 7,350 crashes last year, compared to almost 11,600 in 2019.

The report also says that “hazardous moving infractions”, like running red lights and stop signs and careless and distracted driving, dipped by 6.6 per cent last year.

The number of fatalities on the city’s roads was down from 17 in 2019, to 15 in 2020.

The downward trend did not quite hold across the board, as police say alcohol and drug-related driving offences which climbed from 663 and 713, and included a whopping 94-per cent increase in impairment by drugs, from 69 incidents in 2019 to 134 in 2020.

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