The next time you drive through the intersection of Keil Drive and Richmond Street in Chatham, take an extra look around because it tops the list of Chatham-Kent intersections with the most collisions in 2020.
Chatham-Kent police (CKPS) reported on Tuesday that Keil and Richmond had 14 crashes last year, followed by the intersections of McNaughton and Reaume in Wallaceburg with 13, Grand and Keil with 12, and Lacroix and Richmond with 10.
Other statistics compiled by police showed eight fatal crashes last year, the same as 2019, with half of them being alcohol related and some of them involving both alcohol use and people not wearing seatbelts. The data also showed that most of the impaired related crashes involved drunk drivers but drug impairment is up from 2019.
CKPS also reported a 34 per cent drop in crash calls overall in 2020, likely because the COVID-19 pandemic had people staying at home and working from home. They also said crashes reported to the collision centre went from 2,265 in 2019 to 1,640 in 2020. RIDE stats were also down significantly because of the pandemic. The number of vehicles checked and charges laid were about half of what they were in 2019.
Commercial vehicle enforcement, however, was through the roof last year with 76 commercial vehicles taken off the road and 62 charges laid with the help of the Ministry of Transportation.
Acting Sergeant Jason Herder presented the annual report to the Chatham-Kent Police Services Board at its meeting on Tuesday morning.
