ORILLIA, Ont. -- Provincial police say three people died on OPP-patrolled roads over the Labour Day weekend, but they also report a steady drop in such deaths over the past five years.
Officers stepped up enforcement on highways, waterways and trails over the long weekend, with a focus on distracted driving.
The three who died were a 16-year-old boy who was struck by a vehicle while skateboarding, a 41-year-old woman ejected from a vehicle during a collision and a man who lost control of his off-road vehicle.
Chief Supt. Don Bell, commander of the highway safety division, says despite those deaths, he's encouraged to see a 23 per cent decline in Labour Day weekend fatalities over the past five years.
He says there's also been a 100 per cent drop in marine fatalities on OPP-policed waterways during the same five-year period.
On the other hand, deaths involving off-road vehicles are up 25 per cent.
"I encourage the ORV community to work with the OPP to reduce these numbers," added Bell.
Deputy Commissioner Larry Beechey says aggressive driving continues to be a significant problem on long weekends. More than 6,000 speeding charges as well as 64 street racing charges were laid over the weekend.
"It was disappointing to see distracted drivers continue to pose a risk to road users this past weekend, with our officers laying 397 distracted driving charges compared to 107 impaired driving charges," added Beechey.
Other charges laid included 535 seat belt charges and a total of 87 warn range suspensions were issued to drivers with a blood-alcohol concentration in the 0.05 to 0.08 range.
