Ontario has safest roads, drivers on continent

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation's Annual Road Safety Report released February 26 shows that Ontario's roads were the safest in North America in 2001, and that the province's tractor-trailers and drivers were the safest on the road.

In 2001, tractor-trailer units, including double-trailer combinations and bobtailing tractors, represented just 1.8% of all vehicles involved in all collisions on the province's roadways. Trucks accounted for only 6½% of all the vehicles involved in all fatal collisions that year.

The actual number of fatalities in all truck collisions, including straight trucks, decreased by more than 4.5% in 2001 to 143 and fell more than 16% from their peak of five years before.

This report also found that drinking and driving was a factor among 2.3% of the truck drivers involved in fatal collisions, compared with more than 16% for the entire driving population.

“The trucking industry shares its workplace with the public. It's a responsibility we as an industry take very seriously,” said David Bradley, president of the Ontario Trucking Association.