Police begin long weekend road safety blitz

_ (press release) _

(Ottawa) – October 7-10, 2016 will mark Operation Impact, a national campaign to make Canada’s roads the safest in the world.

This special weekend is a police initiative designed to remind people that an essential part of the enforcement job is to save lives and reduce injuries on our roadways. Educating the public in safe driving practices is a priority. The focus will be on behaviours that put drivers, passengers and other road users most at risk: impaired driving, seat belt use, and all aspects related to aggressive and distracted driving.

“These collisions are preventable.

We want everyone to make safe driving a priority,” said Ottawa Police Traffic Enforcement Sergeant Mark Gatien.

“Police agencies across the country are collaborating on this project because we know that the involvement of the driving public is essential to achieve safer streets and highways."

This timing of the initiative has been strategically chosen, as this weekend there will be more people traveling and traffic crashes are more frequent.

Here in Ottawa, between 2010 and 2014 there have been 148 fatalities and 710 major injuries related to vehicle collisions. These are just numbers but they represent moms, dads, sisters, brothers, loved ones, co-workers, neighbours.

Commuters can expect to see Ottawa Police Service conducting education and enforcement on roadways this weekend, in support of Operation Impact.