Wednesday, October 4, 2006

GRAFFITI IS DAMAGE AND IS A CRIME

Heyden, Ont.,

Sault Ste Marie OPP were called to Beaumont Trailer Park in Heyden yesterday to investigate a report of damage to property.

Sometime during the darkened hours vandals took permanent markers and wrote graffiti on a road sign, two vehicles, a garbage bin and the side of a trailer. A very small selection of people feel that this action could be referred to as “art work”.

To the people who own the property, vehicles and trailer and have to try to clean this mess off their property—it is unnecessary and illegal to damage someone else’s property.

CRASH DESTROYS VEHICLE

Goulais River, Ont.,

A southern Ontario man escaped an early morning collision with minor injuries after his car crashed into a rock cut.

At about 2:30 a.m. this morning the man was traveling northbound on Hwy 17 approaching the rock cut just past the Havilland Bay causeway. He lost control on the wet pavement and slid across the southbound lanes into the rock cut. The car then slid back onto the highway blocking one lane of the highway.

The driver, a forty one year old Simcoe, Ontario man, suffered minor injuries in the crash but did not seek medical treatment. The vehicle was destroyed in the crash and had to be towed from the scene. Police report heavy rain in the area at the time of the crash.

No charges were laid in this investigation.

OPP JOINS CANADA’S POLICE SERVICES FOR
OPERATION IMPACT 2006

Orillia, ON

This Thanksgiving Day Weekend, the Ontario Provincial Police will join all police services from across Canada for “Operation IMPACT”. Supported and endorsed by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP), this will mark the sixteenth year for this National program which raises the public’s awareness to the issues of highway safety in and around our communities. The program will run between noon local time on Friday, October 6th through until midnight local time, Monday, October 9th.

“Operation IMPACT” supports Canada’s Road Safety Vision 2010, which through effective enforcement and education strategies is aimed at making Canada’s roads the safest in the world by 2010.

This year, the OPP and other police services will focus on three key areas which continue to be the main casual factors in most serious and fatal motor vehicle collisions: Use of occupant restraints including children and infants, Impaired driving, and all aspects of Aggressive driving behaviour. O.P.P. members across the province will be highly visible, looking for motorists who continue to exhibit high risk and unsafe driving habits. There will be no tolerance for violators.

The most recent statistics from Transport Canada put the death toll at 2,725 people killed in collisions on Canada’s highways with another 17,384 seriously injured.

The Ontario Provincial Police alone have investigated 284 fatal collisions so far in 2006, resulting in the deaths of 327 persons. At this point, impairment by alcohol is confirmed as a factor in 13.4% of these collisions. Aggressive driving by excessive speed was identified as a causation in 26.6% of the crashes. Most shockingly, investigators report that failing to wear a seatbelt has directly contributed to 24.4% of the fatalities so far this year.

“Plan your trip, allow for delays, buckle up and enjoy the time. The long week-ends are about spending time with loved ones and enjoying your free time. I’m sure your family would rather see you show up at their door rather than one of my officers,” States A/S/Sgt. Dean Ward of the East Algoma Detachment.