Deaths tied to motor vehicle crashes on OPP-patrolled roads are outpacing last year’s numbers as of mid-June, according to the police service.
In a release Monday, OPP said as of the second week in June, some 150 people have been killed on Ontario roads.
Last year, 359 people were reported to have died in crashes across Ontario, a ten-year high.
“Already this year, we’re well above the pace where we were last year, and that’s not a record we want to see broken,” OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said in a social media post.
“Just in the first 11 days of June, 18 people died in car crashes and we know they’re preventable.”
Recent high-profile crashes include the death of three people after a two-vehicle head-on crash on June 8 on Highway 7, west of Tatlock Road in Lanark County; and a late May crash in Woodstock that saw a bus driver and OPP officer succumb to injuries.
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“Even the slightest bit of inattention can result in tragedy,” Schmidt said.
“So put those distractions down, obey the speed limit.”
Forty-four motorcyclists, 29 pedestrians and 12 bicyclists were killed last year across OPP-monitored roads.
High-level statistics show 423 people died in motorized vehicle crashes and marine incidents in 2022. That included 353 motor vehicle collisions, 27 off-road crashes, 29 boating fatalities and 14 snowmobile wrecks.
Statistics only apply to incidents investigated by Ontario Provincial Police, which does not have jurisdiction over the roads in many large urban areas such as Toronto, Peel Region or Hamilton.
– with files from Global News’ Isacc Callen
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