The OPP has released compelling Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) collision data as it prepares to join North American road safety partners to support Operation Safe Driver, a campaign aimed at enhancing CMV safety.
Last year marked the highest number of CMV collisions and fatalities on OPP-patrolled roads in more than 20 years.
The OPP responded to 8,432 collisions in 2019 that involved transport trucks and other types of CMVs. Ninety (90) of the incidents were fatal, killing 96 people, with 1,078 of the crashes resulting in injuries. By comparison, there were 7,719 CMV-involved crashes in 2018, with 54 of the incidents resulting in the deaths of 62 people.
While Operation Safe Driver focuses on all driving behaviours that negatively impact on CMV safety, this year’s campaign will emphasize speeding. In 2019, 1,249 of the 8,432 CMV collisions on OPP-patrolled roads were linked to speed, with 11 of the incidents resulting in fatalities and 246 of them causing injuries.
“Our investigations revealed speed, improper lane changes, following too closely, driver inattention and losing control as the top contributing factors in last year’s commercial motor vehicle collisions. With commercial and passenger vehicle drivers linked to these and other poor behaviours every year, all drivers have a role to play in commercial motor vehicle safety,” said Chief Superintendent Rohan Thompson, Commander, OPP Highway Safety Division.
The Operation Safe Driver campaign is led by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), with enforcement and education initiatives being held across the United States, Canada and Mexico, the goal of which is to enhance traffic safety among commercial and non-commercial vehicle drivers.
Of the driver actions involved in collisions, speed has been identified as one of the major contributing factors in road collisions across North America.
In a CMV collision, passenger vehicle occupants are at far greater risk of being killed and injured than the CMV driver.
For more information, visit cvsa.org
