The OPP is using last year’s stats to emphasis an Ontario law.
The force wants people to remember that it is the law to slow down and move over while passing all tow trucks, police, ambulance, and fire trucks pulled over with their lights activated.
According to the OPP, last year officers laid 1,891 charges against drivers that failed to comply with that law.
The police say is one of the worst years for that charge since it was enacted in 2003.
“There have been close to 700 incidents in the past five years in which an OPP vehicle was struck by another vehicle while parked or stopped on the roadside,” OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique said. “When our officers and emergency partners are assisting people on the roadside, please slow down and move over if safe to do so, and help them get home safely to their families.”
Since 1989, five different officers have lost their lives while on duty because a driver did not obey that law.
Written by Phil McCabe