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OPP: 40 killed in transport truck-involved collisions this year

Transport truck-involved collisions account for 22 per cent of OPP-investigated fatal roadway collisions and are up 40 per cent over this time last year
20210520 Highway 11 north transport Nickolas Cepesko(1)
This file photo from May 2021 shows a blocked Highway 11 in Harley Township due to a single-vehicle tractor-trailer collision.

Operation Safe Driver, a national campaign founded by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, is underway and runs until July 16.

In support of the campaign, the Ontario Provincial Police, in collaboration with the Ministry of Transportation, will ramp up enforcement and education around risky driving in and around transport trucks across the province. Among the dangerous behaviours they will target are speeding, improper lane change and following too closely — the top three causes or contributing factors in transport truck crashes this year.

The OPP reports transport truck-involved collisions have accounted for 13 per cent of all motor vehicle collisions it has investigated this year and is citing careless and aggressive driving as the causes or contributing factors in the majority of the 4,274 collisions that have involved a large commercial motor vehicle this year.

The collisions account for 22 per cent of OPP-investigated fatal roadway collisions and mark a 40 per cent increase in transport truck-involved crashes over this time last year.

Twenty-nine of the collisions were fatal, resulting in 40 people being killed. The at-fault drivers in the incidents involved both passenger vehicle and transport truck drivers.

Road users sustained injuries in 503 of the incidents, with 3,311 of the crashes involving multiple vehicles.

The data is the latest reminder of the significant toll large transport truck-involved collisions have in terms of lives lost, serious injuries and disruptions in traffic and the movement of goods that are characteristic of these types of crashes on Ontario highways and roads. 

The OPP reminds drivers that collisions, as well as charges associated with the driving behaviours that cause them, can easily be avoided by complying with all traffic laws and acknowledging that all drivers and passengers have the right to be safe on our roads.

— BayToday