Dufferin-Caledon Road Safety

Doing Our Part to Keep Dufferin-Caledon Safe

 Dufferin-Caledon residents continue to witness collisions and distracted driving across the community. While our police work diligently to keep Ontario roads safe, it is important for drivers to remain focused and vigilant on the road. Everyone needs to be a part of the solution to prevent fatal collisions, personal injury, property damage and distracted driving.

Caledon OPP has reported a total of 18 fatal collisions over the past 3 years. During the same time period, the number of personal injury collisions rose from 260 to 280 and the number of property damage collisions increased from 1,167 to 1,239.

While Caledon has had 7 fatal motor vehicle collisions in 2016, and 8 fatal motor vehicle collisions in 2017, Ontario had 307 fatal collisions in 2016 and 343 fatal collisions in 2017. In addition, Caledon had 1,434 total motor vehicle collisions in 2016 and 1,438 total motor vehicle collisions in 2017. This is compared to Ontario’s total crashes of 67,450 in 2016 and 68,794 in 2017.

Some examples of extreme driving happen in the Region of Peel. In August, a driver was caught going 128 km/hr over the limit and was charged with stunt driving. In February, another driver was stopped by police for going 146 km/hr over the limit and was charged with stunt driving.

In Ontario, one person is injured from distracted driving every half hour. Based on information from the OPP, 541 people were charged with distracted driving in Caledon during 2017. This increased to 833 people charged with distracted driving in Caledon during 2018.

The fines for distracted driving are one more way we are keeping our community safe. If distracted drivers endanger other people on the roadways, they could face a licence suspension of up to two years, six demerit points, six months in prison, and a fine of up to $2,000 for careless driving. Additionally, if they cause bodily harm or death, they could be charged with dangerous driving. This may lead to up to 10 years in prison for bodily harm and up to 14 years in prison for causing death.

To avoid distracted driving and its penalties, consider using our government’s tips:

  • turn off your phone or switch it to silent mode before you get in the car
  • before you leave the house, record an outgoing message that tells callers you’re driving and you’ll get back to them when you’re off the road
    • some apps can block incoming calls and texts, or send automatic replies to people trying to call or text you
  • ask a passenger to take a call or respond to a text for you
  • if you must respond, or have to make a call or send a text, carefully pull over to a safe area
  • silence notifications that tempt you to check your phone

We all need to do our part to keep Dufferin-Caledon roads safe.

If you have any questions about Ontario government initiatives, please call 1-800-265-1603 or visit my website at www.sylviajonesmpp.ca.