Next month, the city’s Selective Traffic Enforcement Program will crack down on drivers operating unsafe vehicles and those who fail to buckle up or comply with child car seat requirements.
In 2007, defective brakes, wheel and suspension problems and tire blowouts caused 94 collisions on Ottawa roads, resulting in two deaths and 33 injuries.
In addition to checking vehicles for safety, officials will also conduct heavy vehicle inspections to ensure that loads are properly secured, and that heavy vehicles are not being driven on restricted load roadways. Logbooks will also be inspected.
Ottawa Public Health nurses and the Ottawa police will also be setting up spot checks at various locations throughout the city to ensure motorists are wearing their seatbelts, and that child car seats and booster seats are suitable and properly installed.
In Ottawa, from 2003 to 2007, 28 people were killed, 63 suffered life-threatening injuries and another 353 were injured as a result of not wearing vehicle occupant restraints.
With a goal to reduce traffic fatalities or serious injuries by 30 per cent by 2010, STEP targets two traffic safety priorities each month.
