Halton Police Release Part 1 Findings of Project Safe Commute

On Wednesday March 29th officers from the services three District Response Units teamed up to target identified high risk roadways within the Towns of Milton and Halton Hills. This was in recognition of the concerns that Halton residents have regarding aggressive driving particularly during the morning and afternoon commutes.

Officers targeted those driving behaviours that place road users at the greatest risk namely distracted driving, aggressive driving, drivers and passengers failing to wear seatbelts and speeding.

During the day officers dedicated a combined total of 76 hours of enforcement to 13 identified high risk zones within Milton and Halton Hills which generated 171 separate police events. From those events a total of 126 charges were laid. The charges ranged from distracted driving, speeding, interfering with traffic and impaired operation of a motor vehicle.

What follows are a collection of quotes obtained from drivers that were stopped for a violation:

Speeding – “OK let me explain, I was out on a test drive and yeah I pushed the gas”

Distracted Driving – “My phone rang 3 times and I didn’t answer it. I answered it when it rang again and told her I was driving and she was going to get me arrested….. 3 Seconds later you were knocking on my window.”

School Bus Violation/Speeding – “I was following a truck so I didn’t even see the school, all these school buses and the children. What is the speed limit anyway?”

Speeding in a Construction zone with workers present – “I’m late for a dentist appointment, my husband’s out of the country…… Isn’t there anything you can do?”

Speeding – “It’s a rental … goes much faster than my own car.”

Speeding – “I was having a leg cramp and was trying to stretch it out so it caused me to accelerate.”

Sgt Rudall of the 1 District Response Unit commented, “Officers were asked to make notes of the comments drivers gave to excuse their poor driving. This was done for two reasons, firstly to highlight that none of the reasons were urgent and warranted the drivers placing themselves and other road users at greater risk, and secondly to encourage a dialogue that might change driver behaviour to improve safety and the safety of the wider community.

We recognize that Halton residents are concerned about traffic safety; we will continue to do our best to charge those drivers that choose to ignore the speed limits disobey signs and drive aggressively.”

Halton Police would like to remind drivers that community safety is a shared responsibility and that each individual driver plays a key role in ensuring that their next commute is a Safe Commute.

Project Safe Commute and others are part of the Service’s broader Community First policing philosophy that focuses on four principles of (community) safety and well-being: Emergency Response, Risk Intervention, Prevention, and Social Development. More information can be found at www.haltonpolice.ca under Community or by following @HaltonPolice on Twitter or Facebook.