HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 2009-09-02, Page 14Page 12 - Goderich Signal -Star, Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Huron OPP gears up for busy Labour Day on local roads
- Gerard Graces
signal -star staff
staff
The Labour Day long weekend is fast ap-
proaching, and at the Huron detachment of
the Ontario Provincial Police, the traffic unit
is gearing up for a busy weekend on the roads,
on the water and on the trails and beaches.
Acting sergeant, Craig Soldan, said there
are three main concerns the traffic unit will
be focusing on this weekend: traffic safety,
proper ATV use and marine safety.
"Our focus for the long weekend is to not
have any fatalities and no serious injury or
accidents," Soldan said. "We know all the
main factors."
Drinking and driving, speeding, inatten-
tiveness and young drivers are the major
causes of long weekend accidents, he said.
The best deterrents are a mix of enforcement
and education.
Where -alcohol and automobiles are con-
cerned, Soldan said new legislation passed
in the spring does away with the old 12 -hour
suspension and replaces it with a three-day
for drivers who blow a `warn' on the screen-
ing device - between .05 and 0.1.
Giving the three-day suspension teeth is
the fact that licences are sent back to the Min-
istry of Transportation and the driver has to
acquire a new card, as well as have the warn-
ing recorded on their driver history.
"This legislation is excellent for us," Sol -
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dan said. '`What is important is it is an ex-
cellent deterrent. Drivers are paying enough
insurance as it is."
Second offenders receive a seven day sus-
pension and for those who still don't get the
message, the third warning comes with a 30 -
day suspension.
"At that point, you can imagine what their
insurance company is thinking," Soldan said.
"This is a high risk driver."
However, there is good news as well. Sol-
dan said young drivers are proving to be more
responsible on the roads.
"We're not getting a lot of impaireds from
young people," Soldan said. "We checked
a couple hundred cars last weekend and the
G2s all had zero blood alcohol. Most young
groups will designate a driver."
The main offenders are usually adults be-
tween 25-65 he said.
"We're getting a fair amount of these three-
day suspensions," he said. "And we're still
getting over 80s."
He said an ideal long weekend is one with
no fatalities and no accidents or injury. To
that end, the OPP will be out in full force this
weekend, with a zero -tolerance policy for of-
fenders.
Helping them out on the roads are the
newest additions to the OPP fleet, the Dodge
Charger.
Speeders beware, these cars are well
equipped with front and rear radar units, as
well as the standard hand-held radar.
Soldan said with a range of up to one kilo-
metre, the car -mounted radar units ensure the
OPP have the jump on speeders without them
even knowing.
"You probably wouldn't even know you're
on radar until we're there," he said. "That's
where most people are getting their tickets
from.
Adding undisputable accuracy to speed
detection is the LIDAR (light detection and
ranging), which is a trigger -operated laser
that mounts on a tripod.
"It's just another tool in the tool belt for
us," Soldan said. "All the communities that
have had problems with speeding, we set up
Continued on next page.
Photo by Gerard Creces
OPP Traffic Unit Acting Sergeant Craig Soldan demonstrates the use of the
LIDAR, a Tight detecting radar that determines speed.
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