The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Police will place an increased emphasis on seatbelt compliance, speeding and other traffic safety issues this long weekend. RCMP in Flin Flon, Creighton and Cranberry Portage will participate in Operation Impact, a national enforcement program that begins Friday and ends Monday, Thanksgiving Day. "Hopefully the increased public awareness will lead to better driving habits, which will make Canadian roadways safer," read a press statement from police. The goal of Operation Impact is to turn Canada's roads into the safest in the world by 2010, but judging by statistics, there is still a ways to go. Figures supplied by the RCMP show: Nearly 3,000 people died last year as a result of traffic collisions in Canada. Four in 10 fatalities in vehicle crashes occur because the occupants were unbelted. Speed is a factor in one in six fatal accidents. Almost 30 per cent of all traffic fatalities occur at intersections. Collisions at intersections often involve pedestrians, cyclists and vehicle side impacts, all of which many times lead to serious injury or death. Nearly 40 per cent of drivers who die in accidents had been drinking. In nearly 40 per cent of passenger fatalities, they were not wearing a seatbelt. In more than half of unbelted driver fatalities, he or she is ejected from the vehicle. In half of all pedestrian fatalities, the pedestrian was at fault.
