OPP Investigate 16 Deaths, Most Preventable
ORILLIA – From vehicle occupants and motorcyclists, to boaters and swimmers, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) worked around the clock over the Civic Day Long Weekend investigating numerous tragic deaths that occurred during a wide range of transportation and recreation activities on roads and waterways.
By midnight on Monday, August 3, a total of nine people had lost their lives on OPP-patrolled roads. An additional six people drowned and one person died in a boating incident on waterways within OPP jurisdiction.
Of the nine people who died in road crashes, three of them were travelling in one vehicle and four by motorcycle. One was a cyclist and the other a pedestrian. In the fatal car crash, all three vehicle occupants – all in their twenties – were killed.
In one of the motorcycle crashes, both the 59 year-old driver and his 61 year-old passenger died. While OPP investigations are ongoing, initial reports reveal that at least two of the deceased motorcyclists were driving properly at the time of the incident.
Investigations into the weekend’s drowning incidents revealed that all six of the victims were males and three of them were youths.
The marine fatality occurred after a canoe carrying two males capsized. Neither of the men was wearing a personal floatation device at the time.
Over and above tending to the weekend’s numerous tragic incidents, OPP officers also kept busy on roads conducting education and enforcement of Ontario’s Move Over law.
OPP marine officers also took part in Operation Dry Water, an annual education and enforcement campaign aimed at raising awareness of the dangers associated with operating a marine vessel under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
