Police are pleased to see some of the latest data on traffic enforcement in Chatham-Kent.
The municipality reported 2,319 collisions in 2018, which is 259 less than the previous year.
Another positive decrease was the number of fatal collisions, which saw a nearly 70 per cent dip. There were five fatal crashes in 2018 while 2017 had 15.
"We were pleased with the fatality rate drop," said Chatham-Kent police Sergeant Matt Stezycki. "We still have improvements to make but that drop and the change in number, the decrease was a significant improvement and we're happy with that."
As far as the most common places and times for collisions, January 2018 was the month with the most collisions, while Friday was the day when the most collisions occurred and 3 p.m. was the time of day with the highest rate of crashes.
The top three spots for collisions in the municipality were McNaughton Avenue East at St. Clair Street, Grand Avenue West at Keil Drive North and Grand Avenue West at Lacroix. All of the fatal collisions in 2018 occurred on rural roads within Chatham-Kent.
Impaired driving seems to have also taken a slight dip in 2018. Chatham-Kent police stopped 7,200 vehicles in R.I.D.E programs in 2018 and made zero arrests for impaired driving, compared to the four arrests they made during R.I.D.E stops the previous year. Of the nearly 2,300 collisions that took place last year, 55 were drug or alcohol related. Only one of the fatal crashes in 2018 was related to alcohol while alcohol played a factor in three crashes the year prior.
When a motor vehicle collision involves includes a fatal or life-threatening situation, officers from the traffic unit are "called out" to assess the scene. From 2017 to 2018 there was a 40 per cent decrease in the number of times a collision required officers to be called out. Stezycki said the decrease in call-outs allows officers to focus their attention on other tasks.
"Our total call-outs went down...which allows us to allocate our resources to other tasks and responsibilities," he said.
Overall, traffic-related offences accounted for 30 per cent of the provincial offence charges laid by Chatham-Kent police in 2018.
Stezycki said he believes the decreases are due to a mix between both police and driver efforts.
"In 2018 we conducted several targeted blitzes which helps to improve the safety of our roadway. Driver behaviour improved as well," he said.
Police said some of their goals for 2019 is to continue to create educational and enforcement initiatives throughout the community.
