In spite of the many, many reminders to slow down, it seems that some motorists just aren’t getting the message about stunt driving. The OPP in North Bay has expressed concern about a spike in charges over the summer, and the trend continued over the long weekend.
On August 30th just after 11:00 a.m., an officer from the North Bay Detachment of the OPP pulled over a driver on Highway 17 East in East Ferris Township traveling over 158 kilometers per hour in a posted 90 km/h zone. The 20-year-old driver from Petawawa received a 30-day driver’s license suspension and the vehicle was impounded for 14 days.
On the same day just before 3:00 p.m., OPP stopped a 41-year-old driver from Quebec on Highway 11 in Powassan traveling over 152 kilometers per hour in a posted 100 km/h zone.
On September 2nd just after 3:00 p.m. on Highway 11 in North Bay, an 18-year-old driver from Cobourg was pulled over for driving over 133 kilometers per hour in an 80 km/h zone.
Also on September 2nd, just before 5:00 p.m., a 45-year-old driver from North Bay was clocked doing over 139 kilometers per hour in an 80 zone on Highway 11.
All of the drivers in these cases were served a 30-day driver’s license suspension and had their vehicles impounded for 14 days. Officers laid a total of 5,847 speeding charges and 138 stunt driving/racing charges across the province from the afternoon of Friday, September 1st to the evening of Monday, September 4th.
705BLACKFLY.COM reached out to the North Bay Detachment of the OPP.
“Once again there is an alarming number of charges in the North Bay and surrounding area in regard to Stunt Driving,” says Cst. Nathalie Muirhead. “We need drivers to slow down and do their parts in keeping our roadways safe. Students and buses are also back on the roads and there is an increased need for attention and safety on our roadways so that they can get to and from school safely. Aggressive driving and speeding are always one of the top contributing causes of collisions and fatalities on our roadways across the province. North Bay OPP will continue to patrol with a goal of reducing these aggressive driving behaviors through education and enforcement.”
The OPP laid more than 10,000 traffic/marine-related charges between Friday afternoon and Monday night including:
No seatbelt: 458
Impaired driving: 192
Distracted driving: 101
The OPP reported 6 fatal incidents on roads, waterways, and trails over the long weekend. Three people were killed in separate road collisions including two motorcyclists. Two individuals died in separate marine incidents. One of the incidents involved a motorboat that capsized, while the second fatality involved a person falling off a stand-up paddleboard. A sixth person was killed in an off-road vehicle collision.
The latest stats on speeding and stunt driving in Ontario according to the CAA is alarming:
- 83% of Ontario drivers have witnessed other drivers speeding (CAA SCO, 2022)
- Speed-related collisions accounted for 16% of fatalities on Ontario’s roads (MTO, 2019)
- 43% of Ontario drivers have admitted to speeding (CAA SCO, 2022)
- The number of roadside driver’s license suspensions for street racing/stunt driving increased by 130% between 2013 and 2019 (Ontario Driver Annual Statistics, 2020)
For more information on what constitutes stunt driving and penalties go to: https://www.ontario.ca/page/speeding-and-aggressive-driving
Prior to the Labour Day long weekend, we posted an in-depth story on stunt driving and road safety.
https://705blackfly.com/sobering-stats-from-the-opp-ahead-of-labour-day-weekend/
