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Careless mistakes cost lives

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The average person blinks 15-20 times per minute and within one blink, lives can be lost and families left to heal.

 

The OPP has released ten years of data that shows 3,500 deaths have resulted from motor vehicle collisions.

Between 2005 and 2014, the OPP investigated 3,091 fatal road collisions in which 3,504 people lost their lives.

“By personifying our collision data, the public can better grasp the magnitude of loss and the impact poor driving behaviour has had on thousands of lives in Ontario these past ten years,” stated the OPP’s Deputy Commissioner Brad Blair.

Drivers, passengers and pedestrians are all victims, but young adult males continue to be the hardest hit.

Men between the ages of 25-34 accounted for 397 of the deaths. Overall, added the OPP, twice as many men (2,358) have died in collisions compare to women (1,146).

The OPP watch out for the “Big Four”, or alcohol/drug-related, inattentive-related, speed-related and no seat belt/helmet.

Drivers accounted for 69 per cent (2,425) of the deceased, 23 per cent (808) were passengers and eight per cent (270) were pedestrians.

Last year saw the lowest amount of passenger fatalities over the ten-year period.

“A fatal road crash happens in a split second, but its consequences are far reaching and last for months, years and for some surviving family members, the rest of their lives,” stated Blair.

Blair added people need to think about the “big picture” when someone dies in a crash.

“There is the social cost of pain, devastation, grief and other suffering on the part of the surviving families,” he added.

All too often overlooked is the emotional trauma experienced by police officers and other emergency personnel who are the first to respond to a fatal crash.

However, unsafe drivers are not the only ones that pay, added the provincial police force.

Upwards of 450 drivers and 74 motorcyclists were driving properly at the time of the collision.

“The lack of seatbelt use is the only road fatality factor that speaks to the actions of passengers over and above those of the driver,” added the OPP.

“The most encouraging is the dramatic decrease in road deaths among children and teenagers which was peaking in the first few years of the study.”

The “Under 16” age group is right now at a ten-year low in teenaged road deaths.

Medical, property damage, court and other administrative costs add to the economic costs associated with these collisions.

“When you add it all up, the economic and social costs associated with road crashes in Ontario are in the billions of dollars every year, with fatalities being the largest single contributor to social costs,” added Blair.

“It is absolutely tragic to see so many drivers either under-estimate or not care about the role they can play in dramatically reducing this impact on society.”

By releasing the ten-year data, the OPP hopes to raise awareness on driving behaviours that cause senseless, preventable collisions that result in deaths and serious injuries on Ontario roads every year.

 

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