Operation Safe Trucking

January 04, 2018, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

The trucking industry, and the role they played in accidents on Ontario highways were big news in 2017. Several multi vehicle collisions involving cars and driver deaths resulted in truck drivers being charged. Other accidents were precipitated by cars but resulted in trucks being involved. The nation’s busiest roadway, the 401, was closed almost weekly through the GTA due to accidents which took lives, cost untold inconvenience to commuters, and resulted in huge delays and financial costs for business.

In the period between January 1 and October 15, 2017 the BAYTODAY.ca reported that the OPP responded to over 5000 transport truck related collisions. 67 lives were lost in 56 of those crashes. As a result of the public’s pressure to ‘do something’ the OPP launched Operation Safe Trucking in hopes of reducing the number of accidents which seem to be an epidemic on our roads. Police will be using existing regulations under the Highway Traffic Act and the Commercial Motor Vehicles Act to crack down on all drivers and to send the message that we all need to take each other’s safety on the roads seriously.

The operation involves innovative methods of spitting car and truck drivers who are driving distracted, or speeding or driving unsafely, and focuses specifically on

• Following too close
• Speeding
• Distracted driving
• Disobeying traffic controls
• Improper passing
• Improper turns
• Failing to yield right of way, and
• Improper lane changes

They are laying charges aggressively and the OPP reported that in the week of December 11-15 they stopped 3,500 commercial motor vehicles and layed 1836 charges. The took 71 unsafe CMVs out of service. The OPP were covertly patrol the highways from transport trucks giving them an excellent vantage point to see the distracted CMV drivers and resulting in 223 distracted driving charges.

The OPP were also using aircraft and vans to enforce speeding and Follow Too Close. Let’s hope that the enforcement continues consistently throughout the upcoming months and the all drivers get the message that they need to slow down, drive according to rules, and not drive distracted.

About Deutschmann Law

Deutschmann Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.

It is important that you review your accident benefit file with one of our experienced personal injury / car accident lawyers to ensure that you obtain access to all your benefits which include, but are limited to, things like physiotherapy, income replacement benefits, vocational retraining and home modifications.