The Civic Holiday weekend marked the highest number of traffic/marine-related deaths to occur over a long weekend so far this year.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are investigating eight fatalities across the province. Six of those deaths occurred on the road, one involved an off-road incident, and one happened in a boating incident.
Three of those roadway facilities happened in southwestern Ontario. One was in Wellington County, one was in Norfolk County, and one was in Oxford County.
The OPP had a heavy presence on the roads for a four-day driving campaign. From Friday, August 4 to Monday, August 7, officers in the Western Region - which includes London-Middlesex, Elgin, Oxford, Norfolk, Sarnia-Lambton, Chatham-Kent, Windsor-Essex, Huron-Perth, and Grey-Bruce - laid 1,665 charges.
Police focused on the "Big Four" infractions, which are the biggest factors in serious collisions on the province's roads and highways. These four factors include impaired driving, distracted driving, aggressive driving and failing to wear a seatbelt.
There was also a heavy focus on Ontario's "Move Over" law which singles out drivers that don't slow down and change lanes when in the vicinity of an emergency vehicle with it's lights engaged.
A breakdown of the long weekend's charges include:
• Speeding Charges: 938
• Impaired Driving Charges: 39
• Distracted Driving Charges: 9
• Seatbelt Charges: 52
• "Move Over" Law Charges: 47
• Stunt Driving Charges: 28
Overall, fewer charges were laid across all categories than in 2022, with the exception of impaired driving and the "Move Over" law.
Impaired charges rose from 27 last year to 39 this year. Move Over charges went from three to 47.