Peterborough County OPP is reporting a 71 per cent increase in speeding charges laid this year compared to last.
In 2022, police issued 3,582 Highway Traffic Act tickets for speeding, up from 2,098 in 2021.
“It’s disturbing. It’s one of the big four that we focus on in fatal collisions that we investigate,” const. Joe Ayotte said.
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“We’d like to see those numbers come down. We’re working on it but we need the public’s assistance and the drivers to slow down.”
Ayotte said a number of factors have led to the increase in tickets, including more drivers on the road as COVID-19 restrictions have lifted, more patrols in known problem areas, and reliance on public complaints.
“Hopefully in 2023, we can bring them back down,” Ayotte added.
Despite traffic stops increasing by 36 per cent in 2022, impaired charges have dropped by 14 per cent.
“Our officers are out there stopping more vehicles and it’s nice to see our impaired charges have come down, but we’d like them to come down even more,” Ayotte said.
“Thursday, our festive RIDE program starts up. Drivers need to be mindful of that. We’ll have it up and running day and night.”
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According to the OPP, seatbelt infractions are up 26 per cent and distracted driving is up 17 per cent.
“They are part of our big four for fatal collisions that we investigate. People need to pay attention and wear their seatbelts and we’ll get to where we’re going safely,” Ayotte said.
Ayotte cautioned drivers to watch for known road hazards at this time of year, including foggy mornings in the county, wildlife on the roads and ice and snow on the roads.
“We’re expecting our first significant snowfall tonight. That’s when we see the most amount of accidents, in the first few snowfalls of the year,” Ayotte said.
“People fail to adjust their driving habits or they don’t have their winter tires on.”
There have been 190 collisions involving wildlife in Peterborough County in 2022, up from 150 in 2021.
“We always see car vs. deer collisions this time of year. The hunt is on, so our car vs. animal collisions are up 27 per cent compared to last year. That could be speed-related as well. They drive too fast and can’t avoid those animals on the road,” Ayotte said.
“People just need to adjust their speeds accordingly.”
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