Week-long blitz encourages driver to obey speed limits to reduce deaths

Toronto Police has launched a new week-long anti-speeding campaign to remind people to slow down while driving.

Approximately 45,000 speeding tickets were issued in 2018, according to Sgt. Brett Moore of traffic services. 

However, the main focus of the campaign is not writing tickets but rather the opportunity to speak to drivers about speeding, he said. 

“If there is any one thing that causes injury to people (in collisions) it is the speed in which it occurs,” Sgt. Moore added.

Based on a trend recorded by Toronto Police, fatal collisions have been on a rise since 2007.  

The city has recorded 17 fatal collisions in 2019. Of this total, five were drivers, one was a passenger and 11 were pedestrians. 

If a person gets into a collision that occurs with a vehicle that is going 30 km an hour, that person has a 95 per cent chance of dusting themselves off and walking away.

But if that same crash occurs with a vehicle that is going 60 km an hour, there’s only a 10 per cent chance of survival.  

This week’s speeding campaign is part of the City of Toronto’s Vision Zero plan, which aims to get the city to zero collisions that cause injury to people, Sgt. Moore added.

People who are most vulnerable to traffic collisions include those who walk or cycle and are either senior citizens or school-age children. 

Approximately 80 per cent of the people that are killed in traffic collisions fall into that category, Sgt. Moore explained.

He encouraged students to look at speed limits differently. 

“If you’re a little bit slower and leave more time and wiggle room, then you won’t need to ever look back and wish you had done something differently. If you build in time to proceed and break and stop then you’re far better off.”

“People might think they’re invincible until it happens to them,” Sgt. Moore said.

With files from Nico deVeber and Ashraf Dabie.