There is no doubt there are more commercial trucks than ever operating on Ontario highways, one would suggest the increase is on all highways and roads in Canada and the USA.
First, let’s applaud all those great fleets out there, the ownership and management for having a focus on road safety. More importantly let’s recognize all those amazing professional drivers who do such a great job every single day as they perform their craft with all road users of our highways. It is no easy task for sure. A recent OPP report released says that they responded to 9,110 transport truck related crashes in 2022, this is the highest rate in more than a decade. These crashes resulted in 71 fatalities and the majority of them were deemed preventable. The OPP reported improper lane changes, following too closely, speed and distracted driving as the primary causes of the collisions. Speeding and driving to fast accounted for 25.3% of all fatal roadway crashes in Canada in 2020.
How do we lower crashes and increase safety on our roads? There are so many great safety organizations in North America with plenty of educational material and information to be shared. Enforcement is doing their best.
When it comes to education I wonder if we could do more. All of these accidents, are there other trends we could be looking at possibly? Is it possible for the enforcement during the accident to capture the data of the driver as to how long they have had their licence? How about where did they get certified and trained? Potential patterns could be identified.
What can we do as “four wheelers” out there with the big rigs? Number one, give those rigs more room, let them see you, don’t cut them off, don’t rush to merge in front of them, make sure they can see you if you are behind them. We all play a part in road safety, we all want to get home to our families and loves ones at the end of the day, being a safe and responsible road user is everyone’s responsibility.
