Close to 51 per cent of Ontario drivers are suggesting speeding is a “big problem” in the province and OPP say much of it is connected to aggressive behaviour.
The new CAA study reveals respondents put speeding at the top of the list of bad driving habits they’ve seen, with 81 per cent witnessing it.
However, only 38 per cent of those polled admit to doing it themselves.
Of those conceding to it, almost two-thirds (63 per cent) drive between 10 and 19 kilometres per hour over the limit.
“It may seem harmless to drive an additional 10 or 15 km/hr above the posted speed limit, but the risk outweighs the benefit,” says Michael Stewart from CAA’s government and community relations unit.
Unsafe lane changes, distracted driving, running stop signs and red lights are also common dangerous acts drivers say they’ve seen frequently.
Last year, the CAA reported that 98 per cent of drivers in Ontario witnessed “unsafe driving behaviours,” up three per cent from the previous year, according to the DIG Insights study.
The OPP highway safety division’s Sgt. Kerry Schmidt says aggressive habits have been shown to be contributing to the hundreds killed on the province’s major thoroughfares annually.
“Aggressive driving certainly puts other motorists at risk when you have that speed differential,” Schmidt said.
“We have lots of end-of-queue crashes where you drive into stopped traffic or slowing traffic and lose control trying to swerve around an object.”
In June, the service reported 136 fatal collisions resulting in 150 deaths since the start of 2023, factoring in drivers, passengers and pedestrians.
It’s an increase from the same period in 2022, when 103 fatal collisions and 125 lost lives lost were reported.
OPP dealt with 359 fatalities on Ontario roads for all of 2022.
Drivers caught travelling 50 kilometres per hour or more over the speed limit, or 40 kilometres per hour on roads with a speed limit less than 80, face 30-day licence suspensions, vehicle impounds and fines between $2,000 and $10,000.
A first conviction nets a minimum one-year licence suspension, and a third carries a lifetime driving ban.
With the civic long weekend, OPP are highlighting drivers’ obligation by law to slow down and move into other lanes when encountering flashing emergency lights and stopped vehicles on major roadways.
The alert comes just weeks after a light-coloured SUV screamed past a police cruiser and another utility vehicle during a traffic stop on the Fort Erie-bound QEW near Lyons Creek in Niagara.
This year, the OPP has laid more than 600 charges against drivers who were in a position to, but failed to, slow down and move over a lane when approaching emergency vehicles.
“Our office is out on the highways, on the shoulders of the roads, with traffic going by at 100 kilometres per hour within a couple of metres of these vehicles,” Schmidt explained.
“We’ve had five officers killed because of drivers failing to move over … since 1989.”
Schmidt also encourages “a walkaround” prior to a long road trip to spot potential maintenance issues compromising safety.
He says even the most modern vehicles can suffer from ineffective brakes, bad suspension and tail lights that don’t work.
“Maybe it’s not part of your daily documented rituals, but you should have a better idea as to what your vehicle is … looking like,” Schmidt said.
“Check the oil and check the washer fluid; little things like that can leave you stranded.”
Last month, Transport Canada revealed that some 6.6 million “unsafe vehicles” are likely on the road despite having unresolved safety recalls.
In an analysis from June, the federal agency estimated that one in five of the 33.3 million vehicles registered as of 2019 have outstanding recalls but continue to travel the country’s streets and highways, potentially endangering occupants and other road users.
Comments