Stop and Look Campaign Results

(PERTH COUNTY, ON) Last week, from Monday June 2nd to Thursday June 5th, Perth County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers ran their “Stop and Look” campaign. They focused their attention on intersection related offences where drivers fail to stop or yield where required.

Perth County traffic statistics indicate, that one quarter of all collisions are a direct result of failing to stop or yield at intersections. A closer look at these collisions indicates that many of them are very serious in nature resulting in serious personal injuries some have even resulted in death. The reason for the serious nature of these collisions is due to the speed of the vehicles at these intersections.

An example of this type of crash occurred at 7 p.m. on Friday June 06, 2014 emergency personnel were dispatched to a two vehicle crash at the intersection of Perth Line 20 and Hwy 7. An 18 year old Kitchener male was driving an east bound Honda Accord on Perth Line 20 when he pulled out directly in the path of a south bound Mazda on Hwy 7. The Mazda was operated by a 30 year old male from Kitchener. A 27 year old male passenger of the Mazda, a Kitchener resident, was transported to local hospital with minimal injuries. The driver of the Accord was transported to local hospital, with minor injuries. The driver of the Accord has been charged with “fail to yield to traffic on through highway”.

During the four day “Stop and Look” campaign, officers focused their available time on all intersections, however a number of specific intersections were identified as target areas. The intersections were chosen as a result of public complaints or because of high historic collision numbers.

Officers spent a total of 75 hours on this initiative which resulted in the issuing of 49 stop sign charges and 3 traffic signal charges.

It is hoped that this targeted enforcement has encouraged motorists to consciously stop and look at stop signs controlled intersections.

Perth County OPP officers will continue their stop sign enforcement as part of their regular patrols throughout the year.