Nine vehicle fatalities reported in Essex County this year: OPP

OPP are releasing statistics on vehicle fatalities in the region ahead of Canada Road Safety Week.
Essex County OPP has responded to six fatal collisions so far this year, resulting in nine fatalities.
There were eight fatal collisions in all of 2021, resulting in 12 fatalities.
Canada Road Safety Week is led by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and runs from May 17 to 23.
On a provincial level, police say poor and careless driving behaviours have contributed to the majority of the 107 fatalities on OPP-patrolled roads so far this year.
“It's a motor vehicle fatality rate the OPP has not seen in 10 years,” states a news release from OPP.
Not since 2012 has the number of people killed in road collisions reached the 100 mark by the second week of May.
OPP say these driving behaviours stand out in this year's preventable road deaths:
- Fatalities linked to driver inattention are up 79 per cent over this time last year, with the loss of 25 lives to date. There were 14 such deaths last year at this time.
- Alcohol/drug-related fatalities are also up, with the 15 people killed marking a 36 per cent increase over last year's 11 deaths at this time.
- Twenty seven (27) speed-related fatalities are not far off last year's mark and continue to take the greatest toll among the poor driving behaviours.
- With 15 seat belt-related deaths marking a slight increase over last year, unsafe drivers as well as passengers (and drivers) who don't buckle up are setting the stage for an exceptionally tragic year on OPP-patrolled roads.
During the annual Canada Road Safety Week campaign, the OPP will join national policing partners to conduct robust enforcement/education around inattentive/distracted driving, speeding and other aggressive driving, alcohol/drug impaired driving, seatbelt compliance and other risky road behaviours.
The motoring public is encouraged to adopt and maintain safe road behaviours that align with this year's campaign theme "Safer You. Safer Me."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Ukrainian kids receiving cancer treatment in Canada share their experience
Three months since their arrival through a special evacuation program, Ukrainian families with children receiving care in hospital share their experience.

'Be prepared for delays at any point': Canada not flying alone in worldwide travel chaos
As Canadian airports deal with their own set of problems amid the busy summer travel season, by no means are they alone.
Shooting at Williams Lake, B.C. stampede injures 2, forces evacuation
Two people are injured and a third is in custody after what RCMP describe as a 'public shooting' at a rodeo in B.C. Sunday.
3 dead, 3 critically wounded in shooting at Denmark mall
A gunman opened fire inside a busy shopping mall in the Danish capital Sunday, killing three people and critically wounding three others, police said.
Dog left with lost baggage at Toronto Pearson Airport for about 21 hours
A Toronto woman says a dog she rescued from the Dominican Republic has been traumatized after being left in a corner of Toronto Pearson International Airport with baggage for about 21 hours.
After a metre of rain, 32,000 around Sydney, Australia, may need to flee
More than 30,000 residents of Sydney and its surrounding area have been told to evacuate or prepare to abandon their homes on Monday as Australia’s largest city braces for what could be its worst flooding in 18 months.
Amid buzz around the medical benefits of magic mushrooms, a new production facility gets to work in B.C.
In southern B.C, there's a new 20,000-square-foot production facility where one particular product is generating a lot of buzz: magic mushrooms, which a handful of businesses have been federally approved to produce.
Blue Jays mourn death of first base coach Mark Budzinski's daughter
First base coach Mark Budzinski is taking a leave of absence from the Toronto Blue Jays following the death of his daughter.
U.S. Capitol riot: More people turn up with evidence against Donald Trump
More witnesses are coming forward with new details on the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot following former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson's devastating testimony last week against former U.S. President Donald Trump, says a member of a U.S. House committee investigating the insurrection.