With our city rapidly growing, the amount of vehicles travelling our roads obviously increases as well. In a perfect world, everyone would obey the rules of the road and we would have an accident free city, but we all know that isn’t the case. Because of that, the members of the RCMP want to make sure that they are doing everything possible to keep our road ways safe.
Between October 9th and 12th, 2015 Chestermere RCMP participated in Operation Impact, a national campaign to make Canada’s roads the safest in the world. The weekend was a police imitative designed to remind people that an essential part of the enforcement job is to save lives and reduce injuries on our roadways. The focus was mainly on behaviours that put drivers, passengers and other road users most at risk. These included impaired driving, seat belt use and all aspects related to aggressive and distracted driving. All enforcement agencies across the country were invited to participate. This initiative was strategically chosen for this weekend as the Thanksgiving long weekend is when more people are travelling and traffic crashes are more frequent.
Operation Impact is sponsored by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) and member agencies of the CACP Traffic Committee from across Canada in support of Canada’s Road Safety Strategy 2015, which has a goal of making Canada’s roads the safest in the world by 2015 “Dedicated to improving public safety on our roadways”.
Activities undertaken by Chestermere RCMP as part of Operation Impact over the Thanksgiving long weekend included designated check stops on Friday with assistance from Sheriffs from Strathmore integrated Traffic Unit; and Saturday as well as roving enforcement for the duration of the weekend.
So how did Chestermere drivers do? Well, as part of this enforcement and educational campaign, Chestermere RCMP would like to report the following results:
‐ 632 Vehicles were checked;
‐ 2 Impaired Driving charges;
‐ 1 24hr suspension by drug;
‐ 3 drug seizures;
‐ 1 Distracted Driving charge;
‐ 25 Speeding Charges;
‐ 5 Unsafe lane changes or U turns;
‐ 2 Fail to yield charges;
‐ 1 Careless driving charge;
‐ 9 Seatbelt charges;
‐ 1 Insurance charge;
‐ 16 other traffic charges;
‐ 1 other criminal code charge.
The Alberta Occupant Restraint Program reports that seat belts and child safety seats are the most cost effective means we have of reducing injuries and deaths from vehicle collisions. All provinces and territories have seat belt and child restraint laws and the RCMP will be enforcing these laws.
Lap/shoulder belts reduce the risk of fatal or serious injuries to front seat occupants of passenger vehicles by up to 50% and by up to 65% for people riding in light trucks. 75% of people ejected from their vehicle die. That’s a fact. Seat belts offer the best protection against ejection. The inside of a vehicle has what’s called the engineered life space. It’s specifically designed to handle collisions and protect vehicle occupants. The seat belt will keep you inside that engineered life space.
Most parents know that a child who weighs less than 18kg (40 lbs) must be properly secured in a child safety seat. Additionally, a child who weighs less than 9 kg (20 lbs) must be in a rear-facing child safety seat and a child weighing between 9 kg and 18 kg must be in a forward-facing child safety seat.
Safety experts strongly recommend that you install a booster seat to replace a child safety seat when your child turns 6 or weighs more than 18 kg. Children under the age of 12 should be in the back seat. It’s always the safest place for them, especially I your vehicle is equipped with a supplemental restraint system (SRS), otherwise known as airbags.
Intersections are particularly dangerous for motorists. In 2006, almost 29% of victims fatally injured and 40% of those seriously injured sustained their injuries in intersection-related crashes. Excess or inappropriate speed was cited as a contributing factor for more than 27% of fatally injured road users and almost 19% of victims seriously injured during 2006.
They also reported that it is the aggressive drivers that often engage in a combination of high-risk road use behaviours – non-use of seat belts, drinking and driving and speeding. The results of these behaviours are often catastrophic for involved road users.
As the winter months approach and those road conditions get treacherous, let’s us as drivers do our part in keeping our community road ways safe.
