In Durham Region, the municipality directly east of Toronto, a motor vehicle accident occurs every 48 minutes and someone is injured in a crash every five hours. Since 2012, the region has endured a 33 per cent increase in fatal collisions, with approximately 37 per cent of those collisions linked to distracted driving. For local law enforcement and every car accident lawyer in the Greater Toronto Area, the prevalence of serious accidents in Durham is cause for concern.
In response to the region’s road safety issues, Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) has launched an expansive public messaging campaign promoting education and awareness. The program underlines the dangers of impaired driving, distracted driving, aggressive driving, and not wearing a seatbelt, the “Big Four Killers” on Ontario roads.
“We wanted something that would create more enduring change than just getting a ticket,” said Const. Shawn Finley, chair of the north Durham traffic committee, according to DurhamRegion.com. “When you get a ticket, that might alter your behaviour for a short period of time, say the time it takes you to think of what that ticket cost, but we wanted something to get people thinking about the controllable behaviours that contribute to the big four killers.”
The DRPS’s approach, which includes installing posters at LCBOs and grocery stores and distributing pamphlets, is a breath of fresh air to any Ontario car accident lawyer, many of whom have advocated for public messaging and education to be deployed alongside tough traffic laws.
“It’s important to educate the public so they understand texting and driving is killing people, it’s raising the possibility of an accident,” said Staff-Sgt. Colin Shaw of DRPS North Division. “We don’t want to wait for someone to have an accident before we deal with the fact that they were speeding, drinking and driving or texting and driving.”
In 2015, impaired driving caused 166 DRPS-investigated collisions leading to 22 injuries and four deaths. The Service laid more than 700 impaired driving charges that year, in addition to more than 2,700 distracted driving charges and around 2,500 speeding charges.
As new road safety challenges like distracted driving and marijuana legalization emerge across Canada, police services and lawmakers at all levels of government are turning to innovative public messaging campaigns in a bid to influence driver behaviour. The approach has proven effective in the decades-long fight against drunk driving; however, distracted driving fatality rates have yet to fall, and the impact of marijuana legalization on road safety remains to be seen.
If you or a member of your family has been injured in an automotive accident, contact Will Davidson LLP to speak with an experienced Oakville car accident lawyer today. Our team will provide guidance and advice as you pursue compensation for your injuries.
Image credit: Zachary77F/Wikimedia Commons
