Over this Thanksgiving long weekend, Ottawa Police Services, traffic and frontline workers, are focusing on behaviours that put drivers, passengers and other road users at risk, referred to as “The Fatal 4”:
• Impaired Driving (by alcohol and/or drugs);
• Distracted Driving;
• Seatbelt Infractions;
• Speeding / Aggressive Driving.
This year’s theme is, “Your actions have impact”. Operation Impact 2019, a national public awareness program, emphasizes the role each of us has to play around safety on the streets and highways in our community. Don’t let the impact of your choices be a collision on our roads.
“Operation Impact is a good reminder that we all have the choice to make safe driving a priority when we get behind the wheel,” said Ottawa Police Traffic Services Staff Sergeant Marc-Andre Sheehy. “Police can hand out fines, but we can’t be everywhere, so it has to be up to you to drive safe at all times.”
It is not a coincidence that the timing of this campaign takes place during this Thanksgiving long weekend. More people are traveling, making collisions more frequent. In Ottawa in 2018, collisions caused 2573 injuries and 24 deaths. Motor vehicle collisions kill about 2,000 Canadians, seriously injure another 10,000 people and injure about 165,000 citizens in this country each year.
“That is why our police service actively supports and participates in Operation Impact,” said S/Sgt. Sheehy. “We want to reduce those numbers to zero.”
Operation Impact is organized by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP), under the leadership of the CACP Traffic Safety Committee, in support of Canada’s Road Safety Strategy 2025.