Ontario road deaths up from last year: OPP

Published May 12, 2020 • 1 minute read

OPP at the scene of a fatal crash near Sarnia on May 4, 2020. Photo by Paul Morden /Postmedia Network

As lockdowns ease and Ontario looks forward to a summer of coronavirus recovery, police urge motorists to halt a worrying trend on provincial roads.

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In numbers released by the OPP for Ontario Road Safety Week, preventable road deaths are on an uphill trend compared to this time last year.

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As of May 4, 71 people have died in fatal collisions on OPP-patrolled roads.

That’s up from just 61 in the same time period in 2019.

While speed remains the province’s No. 1 killer — increasing 13% from 2019 — distracted-driving deaths have seen a nearly 300% increase over the same period last year.

The number of fatal crashes is up 10.5% from 2019.

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Deaths involving lack of seatbelt use are up by a quarter, while impaired-driving fatalities increased by 20%, and the number of pedestrians killed on Ontario roads jumped by 75%.

A grim year for road deaths, 2019 saw 304 fatal crashes claiming 335 lives on OPP-patrolled roads.

The OPP responded to 74,771 crashes last year — a five-year high.

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @bryanpassifiume

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