OPP crack-down targeting 'risky' behaviour by transport truck drivers

Published Jul 04, 2024 • Last updated Jul 04, 2024 • 2 minute read

A motorist was injured and faces an impaired driving charge after crashing into a concrete median and then getting hit by a transport truck on Hwy. 400, near Bass Pro Mills Dr., on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. Photo by @OPP_HSD /Twitter

Police will be on the lookout next week for “risky” driving habits, especially on the part of transport truck operators.

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Starting on Sunday, the Ontario Provincial Police, the Ministry of Transportation and police services across North America will be taking part in Operation Safe Driver Week with officers keeping an eye out for commercial and non-commercial drivers “engaging in risky behaviours.”

The ministry and OPP will also be ensuring that commercial drivers are keeping their trucks, equipment, loads and records “up to the standards required by law” to ensure the safe movement of goods across the province.

“Aggressive and careless drivers have no place on our roads, especially when sharing the road involves large commercial vehicles,” OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique said. “Tragically, many families again this year are paying a devastating price — the senseless, preventable loss of their loved ones — because of drivers who make a conscious decision to not share our roads safely.”

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The OPP said that about 20% of fatal collisions in their jurisdictions this year have involved transport trucks, adding that it “paints a grim picture of how commercial and non-commercial drivers have been sharing the road.”

“Dangerous driving puts everyone at risk,” Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner said. “Road safety is a shared responsibility and that’s why Operation Safe Driver Week is an important reminder to do your part — slow down, stay focused and follow the rules of the road.”

Police said there have been 31 road-incident fatalities this year and that 86% of crashes have been linked to poor behaviours on the part of non-commercial drivers, while commercial drivers were at fault in the remaining incidents.

Speeding as well as improper vehicle spacing and passing manoeuvres were cited as some of the reasons behind transport truck-involved collisions with more than 8,000 such incidents being investigated by the OPP alone last year.

“Everyone deserves to return home to their loved ones safely at the end of their day,” Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said. “That is why our government is cracking down on dangerous and impaired driving and increasing enforcement of commercial vehicles to keep Ontario’s highways among the safest in North America.”