Canadian Road Safety News Digest

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Street-racing group stages ‘mega meet’ in Hamilton amid COVID-19 restrictions

September 20, 2020, Y108.ca (HAMILTON, ONTARIO) A group of street racers from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) took over a parking lot in Ancaster for what police are calling a “mega meet,” with hundreds of people in attendance on Saturday…

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Drug-impaired driving increases slightly, overall impact of cannabis ‘lower than expected’: City report

Edmonton Journal (EDMONTON, ONTARIO) Edmonton police have seen a slight increase in drug-impaired driving since cannabis was legalized but its overall impact has been lower than expected, says a report going to the community and public services committee. The report…

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Rising marijuana use by drivers and growing prevalence among drivers in fatal crashes warrants concern

TIRF (OTTAWA, ONTARIO) The Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF) announces the release of two new fact sheets on marijuana use by drivers in Canada. National trends in the use of marijuana among Canadian drivers are summarized in TIRF’s Road Safety Monitor…

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How Justice Canada’s ‘inaccurate and misleading’ impaired driving tweet sparked blame, confusion

Global News (OTTAWA, ONTARIO) The Department of Justice put its social media plans to promote a new impaired driving law on hold earlier this summer after it received sharp criticism online over a now-deleted tweet that one senior departmental official described internally…

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Speed cameras now active in 5 B.C. intersections, 30 more to roll out by next year

Global News (VICTORIA, B.C.) The B.C. Government is confident it can win any legal challenge against new speed cameras, five of which were activated Monday. Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said the province’s lawyers are certain the intersection cameras will not…

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‘You hesitate, you lose lives’: Toronto votes for more aggressive Vision Zero road safety plan

Toronto Star (TORONTO, ONTARIO) City council has voted to reboot its road-safety plan, as its first attempt failed to reduce traffic deaths. Three years after endorsing the city’s first Vision Zero strategy aimed at eliminating road fatalities, councillors voted unanimously Tuesday…

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Are Canada’s pot-impaired driving penalties too strict? New study suggests yes

Global News (VICTORIA, B.C.) A new study from the University of British Columbia (UBC) is suggesting that Canada’s cannabis-impaired driving penalties may be too strict. That’s after researchers found no link between low levels of THC, the psychoactive chemical in…

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Federal government takes steps to curb bus, truck driver fatigue in Canada

CBC News (OTTAWA, ONTARIO) Canada is making electronic logging devices mandatory for federally regulated commercial truck and bus drivers in an effort to combat driver fatigue and improve road safety. Electronic devices track when and how long drivers have been…

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Mounties seeing smaller number of blood samples than expected under drug-impaired driving law

CBC News (OTTAWA, ONTARIO) The Royal Canadian Mounted Police were expecting to see their national forensic labs flooded with requests for blood tests after Canada’s new impaired driving law came into effect, but they’ve seen just a small number so…

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87 people lost a vehicle for a week because of cellphone tickets last year

SGI (REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN) “Confessions of a Reformed Distracted Driver” is part of the March Traffic Safety Spotlight Losing your vehicle for a week for something as trivial as being unable to leave your phone alone sounds pretty terrible, right? Under…

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Transport Canada gearing up for automated and connected vehicle tests in Canada

Transport Canada (OTTAWA, ONTARIO) Automated and connected vehicles have the potential to greatly improve road safety and increase mobility, while also offering new economic opportunities and environmental benefits to Canadians. That’s why the Government of Canada has just published…two new,…

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Ontario Government Supports Innovation and Growth in Automated Vehicle Industry: Expanding Ontario’s Automated Vehicle Pilot

Government of Ontario (WATERLOO, ONTARIO) Today, Transportation Minister Jeff Yurek was at the Sedra Student Design Centre at the University of Waterloo to support innovation and growth within Ontario’s automated vehicle industry. As one of the actions in the recent…

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Stiff new penalties for distracted, impaired driving in Ontario begin on Jan. 1

Global News (TORONTO, ONTARIO) After years of calls from advocates to crack down on distracted and impaired driving, stiff penalties passed by the Ontario government will come into force on Tuesday. “Some people are going to be startled to find that it’s as…

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Mandatory impaired driving laws to hit the roads before holidays

Global News (TORONTO, ONTARIO) Given the recent focus on drug-impaired driving with the legalization of recreational cannabis, new impaired driving laws, related to alcohol, have possibly fallen off the radar. Starting on Dec. 18, stricter drunk driving laws will come into effect….