“Don’t leave an empty seat at someone’s dinner table.”
That’s the message from Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) as officers prepare for a busy Thanksgiving long weekend out on the roads.
The OPP is joining police services across Canada this weekend for Operation Impact, which is targetting motorists who speed, drive distracted, impaired, or fatigued.
Officers will also be on the lookout for drivers and passengers who are not buckled up or do not have children safely restrained in appropriate car and booster seats.
According to the OPP, 296 people have been killed in collisions on OPP-patrolled roads so far this year, compared to 276 at this time last year.
Police said the vast majority of those road incidents were preventable and attributed to poor and careless actions and behaviours.
“Deaths linked to driver inattention are up 40 per cent over this time last year, with speeding, impaired driving and seatbelt non-compliance among other factors contributing to the preventable loss of life in 2024,” said the OPP in a press release.
The OPP adds that cyclists and pedestrians have been particularly at risk this year, with fatalities in these two road user classes up 100 per cent and 82 per cent respectively over this time last year, while motorcyclist deaths are also up significantly, marking a 41 per cent increase.
Operation Impact runs from Friday Oct. 11 to Monday Oct. 14.