OPP lay thousands of charges in Thanksgiving traffic blitz

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have released their results for Operation Impact — a Thanksgiving weekend traffic blitz which garnered more than 8,800 traffic charges in the province.

Officers say four people died in separate car crashes this past weekend.

They say speeding accounted for 4,518 or more than half of this weekend’s driving offences.  OPP also laid 158 racing/stunt driving charges — one of the most aggressive and dangerous behaviours on Ontario roads.

READ MORE: OPP reminds motorists to drive with caution this Thanksgiving weekend

Police also say they’ve issued 170 impaired driving charges and 130 distracted driving charges.

Three hundred and seventy-seven seatbelt charges were laid against unbuckled passengers, serving as a reminder that they too need to do their part to reduce the number of injuries and deaths on roads.

From Jan. 1 to Oct.12,  the OPP say they responded to 244 fatal collisions resulting in families collectively losing 279 loved ones this year in what were almost all preventable.

Provincial police are reminding drivers and passengers that traffic laws are designed to keep everyone safe, but are only effective if everyone complies with them at all times.