Township roads deadliest in 2023
Police will be focusing on aggressive driving in Waterloo Region’s townships this year after more than half the fatal collisions in 2023 occurred in the rural areas.
During a traffic review on Wednesday at Waterloo Regional Police Services Board, it was revealed six of 10 fatal collisions in 2023 happened in the townships, with five in Woolwich — the most in the region — and one in Wilmot.
As well, of the 92 major injury collisions in the region, the townships saw 20: Woolwich with nine, Wilmot five, North Dumfries four and Wellesley two.
“A large portion of our stunt drivers were found to be on rural roadways and given the high instances of fatalities and serious injuries on those roadways, continued efforts on rural townships is a focus,” said Staff Sgt. Scott Griffiths of police’s traffic unit.
Griffiths backed that up by noting of the 631 stunt driving charges laid by police in 2023, 35 per cent, or 221, were in the townships. Total driving charges on rural roadways were 4,703.
Woolwich Mayor Sandy Shantz was curious if police had statistics available about where in the townships the fatalities and major injury collisions occurred, whether it was within or outside the settlement area.
“We’ve got concerns in our townships, in our towns as well, because people tend to travel through at high rates of speed,” said Shantz.
While he didn’t have those numbers parsed, Griffiths said, anecdotally, he believed most would be in the 80 km/h area of the townships.
“I don’t recall any being located within the settlements.” Griffiths said.
Fatal collisions did drop from last year overall, however, with 13 fatal collision and 15 deaths in 2022. Six occurred in the townships that year as well, with three in Wellesley, and one each in North Dumfries, Woolwich and Wilmot.
However, most other traffic statistics rose in 2023 from 2022, as
stunt driving charges increased by 100, total charges on rural roadways increased by 171, there were more impaired driving charges, with 939 in 2023 from 896 in 2022, and 79 drugged driving suspensions in 2023 — fifth in the province among police services — up from 52 suspensions in 2022.
Police priorities for this year include reducing major injury collisions and fatalities by targeting the “fatal four” — speeding, impaired driving, distracted driving, and seatbelts — combating impaired driving through RIDE programs, enforcement and awareness, increasing proactive road safety enforcement, and continuing enforcement in the townships.
Some of the new initiatives in 2024 include using social media to engage young and novice drivers to encourage positive driving behaviours and operating with zero alcohol and drugs, lead training on modified vehicles and inspections, and offer support and training for expansion of Automated License Plate Recognition.