Drinking and driving is up as is unemployment and bankruptcy. Is there a correlation?
Ontario Provincial police saw a "disturbing increase" in motor vehicle accidents in December and January, particularly during winter storms, OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino said in a news release.
OPP officers investigated 17,368 collisions over those two months, compared with 15,047 over the same time period last year, and 14,510 in 2007.
"The majority of these crashes are preventable if drivers would slow down and drive to the weather and road conditions," he said. "Taking a little extra time in bad weather is far superior to sustaining a loss of life or personal injury."
Fantino also said snowmobilers and people driving all terrain vehicles need to to exercise more caution on roads and trails.
"I am still shocked at how many of these crashes have alcohol consumption as a contributing factor," he said.
While the number of accidents went up, the OPP report that the number of fatalities and injuries went down slightly.
Their statistics show there were 47 deaths on OPP-patrolled roads this past December and January, compared to 48 last year and 65 fatalities two years ago.
The number of injuries caused by motor vehicle crashes also went down to 1,985 over the same period, compared to 2,216 last year and 2,435 two years ago.
Ontario Provincial police saw a "disturbing increase" in motor vehicle accidents in December and January, particularly during winter storms, OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino said in a news release.
OPP officers investigated 17,368 collisions over those two months, compared with 15,047 over the same time period last year, and 14,510 in 2007.
"The majority of these crashes are preventable if drivers would slow down and drive to the weather and road conditions," he said. "Taking a little extra time in bad weather is far superior to sustaining a loss of life or personal injury."
Fantino also said snowmobilers and people driving all terrain vehicles need to to exercise more caution on roads and trails.
"I am still shocked at how many of these crashes have alcohol consumption as a contributing factor," he said.
While the number of accidents went up, the OPP report that the number of fatalities and injuries went down slightly.
Their statistics show there were 47 deaths on OPP-patrolled roads this past December and January, compared to 48 last year and 65 fatalities two years ago.
The number of injuries caused by motor vehicle crashes also went down to 1,985 over the same period, compared to 2,216 last year and 2,435 two years ago.
