As London-area residents pack up the car for one last weekend at the beach, cottage or campground before the start of the new school year, provincial police are urging motorists to exercise safe driving practices on the roads to avoid becoming the region’s latest collision fatality.
Eighty-three people have died in 72 fatal collisions on OPP-patrolled roads in the OPP’s West Region so far this year, an increase of 61 and 58, respectively, since last year, police say.
The OPP’s West Region covers an area of southern Ontario that stretches west to Essex, north to the Bruce Peninsula, and east to Haldimand and Wellington counties.
“That’s a huge figure. Eighty-three people are no longer part of our community. It could be your neighbour, it could be a teacher…. These are people that make a difference in our communities and they’re no longer with us,” said Derek Rogers, regional media relations co-ordinator for West Region OPP.
“It’s worth acknowledging and putting that into context that there has been an increase in traffic volume, but again, it really all comes down to a common factor of decision making and judgement.”
Provincially, 229 people have died in 203 fatal collisions, among them 33 motorcyclists, 17 pedestrians and nine cyclists.
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Most, if not all, fatal collisions are attributable to the “Big Four” factors — aggressive driving, distracted driving, impaired driving and lack of seat belt use.
Twenty-three of West Region’s fatal collisions this year have been the result of distracted driving, the most of the big four, and an increase of four compared with 2021, Rogers says.
The second most common “Big Four” factor is impaired driving, linked with 20 fatal collisions — slightly fewer than distracted driving, but still double the number of impaired fatal collisions seen by Labour Day weekend in 2021.
“If you were to get into percentages, that’s a 100 per cent increase, which is a scary figure and it should be,” Rogers says.
“Impaired driving is entirely preventable. It’s a behaviour that does not need to occur. If you take a few steps to protect yourself and plan, take a cab, have somebody who is a designated driver.”
At the same time, 18 fatal collisions this year have been linked to aggressive driving, up from 13 in 2021, while 15 have been linked to a lack of seatbelt use, up from 11.
“The most tragic part of all of this is that most of these, if not all, are entirely preventable,” Rogers said.
“If you do up your seatbelt, if you drive in a safe manner following the speed limit and not following through closely, if you don’t have too much to drink and get behind the wheel, if you do pay attention to what you’re doing, most of these deaths can be prevented.”
Provincial police will also be keeping an eye out on waterways and recreational trails, and are reiterating messages that were the focus of an OPP news conference in late July aimed at curbing the rising number of road fatalities involving motorcyclists.
At the time the news conference was held on July 28, 12 motorcyclists had died in collisions on OPP-patrolled roads in West Region, up from 10 for the entire year prior.
Officials noted that three-quarters of the collisions saw the motorcyclist at fault, with loss of control and speeding as the two most common factors.
Police also highlighted a trend observed by investigators — collisions taking place between noon and 4 p.m. on sunny and dry weekends involving men aged 56 to 64.
In the month since the news conference, three more motorcyclists have been killed, putting 2022 closer to the record 19 motorcycle fatalities seen in 2016.
“We want people to start thinking about their own safety. Our members cannot be on the back of your motorcycle. We can’t be in the vehicle with you. So these are decisions that that individual drivers need to make to protect themselves and other drivers who share the road with them,” Rogers said.
OPP stats, year to date for West region:
- Fatal collisions in West Region: 72 (up from 58 in 2021)
- Fatalities from fatal collisions: 83 (up from 61 in 2021)
- Fatal collisions tied to impaired driving: 20 (up from 10 in 2021)
- Fatal collisions linked to aggressive driving: 23 (up from 19 in 2021)
- No seatbelt: 15 (up from 11 in 2021)
- Motorcyclist fatalities: 15 (up from 10 in 2021)
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