Last year marked the highest number of commercial motor vehicle collisions and fatalities on OPP-patrolled roads in more than 20 years.
The OPP responded to 8,432 collisions in 2019 that involved transport trucks and other types of CMVs. Ninety of the incidents were fatal, killing 96 people and 1,078 of the crashes resulted in injuries.
By comparison, there were 7,719 CMV-involved crashes in 2018 and 54 of these incidents resulted in the deaths of 62 people and injuries were sustained in 1,143 of the crashes.
While Operation Safe Driver focuses on all driving behaviours that negatively impact on CMV safety, this year's campaign will emphasize speeding. In 2019, 1,249 of the 8,432 CMV collisions on OPP-patrolled roads were linked to speed, with 11 of the incidents resulting in fatalities and 246 of them causing injuries.
"Our investigations reveal that speed, improper lane changes, following too closely, driver inattention and losing control were the top contributing factors in last year's commercial motor vehicle collisions. With commercial and passenger vehicle drivers linked to these and other poor behaviours every year, all drivers have a role to play in keeping our roadways safe," said Chief Superintendent Rohan Thompson, Commander, OPP Highway Safety Division.
Operation Safe Driver is led by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), with enforcement and education initiatives being held across Canada, the United States and Mexico. The goal of the campaign is to enhance traffic safety among commercial and non-commercial vehicle drivers.
Quick Facts:
Among the driver actions involved in collisions, speed has been identified as one of the major contributing factors in road collisions across North America.
In a CMV collision, passenger vehicle occupants are at far greater risk of being killed and injured than the CMV driver.
