(St. John’s, NL), October 8, 2021 – Today marks the beginning of Operation Impact 2021, a national public awareness campaign aimed at making Canada’s roads the safest in the world. By promoting safe driving behaviours, we hope to help prevent collisions, save lives, and reduce injuries on our roads.

From October 8th to 11th, 2021, police services across the country will be focused on behaviours that put drivers, passengers and other road users at risk: impaired driving due to alcohol, drugs or fatigue, as well as aggressive driving, distracted driving, and driving without a seat belt.

Most collisions are not ‘accidents’, they are generally the direct result of a conscious decision an individual driver has made. If there were zero problematic driving behaviours at the wheel, we could expect zero collisions, zero injuries and zero deaths on our roads. So this year, we are inviting residents in our community to Be a hero. Aim for zero.

“We know that aggressive driving and distracted driving dominate the conversation when it comes to issues faced within our communities on a daily basis. In addition, impaired driving continues to happen, regardless of the knowledge we all have today that this activity literally puts lives in danger. Operation Impact will see increased patrols, concentrating on vehicle operation which poses a risk for our friends, families, and neighbours” – James Cadigan, Media Relations Officer, Royal Newfoundland Constabulary

Motor vehicle collisions kill about 2,000 Canadians, seriously injure another 10,000 people and injure about 165,000 citizens in this country each year.

It is not a coincidence that the timing of this campaign to achieve safer streets and highways takes place during this long weekend. More people are travelling, and collisions are therefore more frequent.

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Cst. James Cadigan  #775
Media Relations Officer
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary
media@rnc.gov.nl.ca
(709) 729-8658