West Region OPP laid 2,600 charges during six-day traffic-safety blitz

Provincial police laid more than 2,600 charges in Southwestern Ontario during a weeklong traffic-safety campaign that wrapped up after the long weekend.

The OPP’s road safety week from May 16-22 targeted impaired driving, aggressive driving, seatbelt infractions and distracted driving.

OPP officers in the west region, an area that encompasses Norfolk, Haldimand, Oxford and Brant, laid 1,552 speeding charges, 60 impaired driving charges, 94 seatbelt charges and 22 distracted driving charges, police said Wednesday.

Across the province, police laid a total of 12,600 charges – nearly half of them for speeding – over the six-day campaign during which there were seven traffic deaths, including three on the Victoria Day long weekend, police said.

“The OPP thanks all drivers and other road users who did their part to help keep the motoring public safe during the annual campaign and do so throughout the year,” the OPP said in a statement.