Operation Safe Driver kicks off Sunday as Ontario Provincial Police, in collaboration with the Ministry of Transportation, ramp up enforcement and education around commercial motor vehicle safety.
In 2022, the OPP responded to 9,110 collisions that involved a transport truck, marking the highest number of transport truck-related crashes on OPP-patrolled roads in more than 10 years.
The incidents accounted for 12 per cent of overall collisions last year and resulted in 71 fatalities.
Improper lane changes, following too close and speed were the top primary causes in the collisions.
But police say of the more than 2,800 OPP charges laid in transport truck-involved collisions last year, 1,098 of them were issued to passenger vehicle drivers.
The balance (1,760) of the charges issued to commercial drivers.
OPP note the data serves as a reminder to all drivers of the importance of sharing the road safely when travelling in and around large commercial vehicles. These collisions not only result in significant fatalities, injuries and property damage every year, they often cause lengthy traffic delays and disruptions in the movement of goods that support our economy.
During Operation Safe Driver which runs from July 9 – 15, the OPP, MTO and other road safety partners will conduct targeted enforcement aimed at all risky behaviours on the part of commercial and non-commercial drivers.
