Chatham-Kent Police Service Headquarters. (Photo courtesy of the Chatham-Kent police)Chatham-Kent Police Service Headquarters. (Photo courtesy of the Chatham-Kent police)
Chatham

CK Police Report Increase In Crashes In 2017

The two most dangerous intersections in Chatham-Kent last year were Keil Dr. and Richmond St. and Lacroix St. and Richmond St.

A report shows that they tied for the most crashes in 2017 with 18. Grand and Lacroix had 14 crashes last year, McNaughton and Sandys had 13, and McNaughton and St. Clair had 12.

Sergeant Matt Stezycki says those are busy intersections with a lot of traffic volume and so they saw more crashes.

"Quite often the number is higher due to a number of factors. It could be distracted driving, people are often in a rush and at times they're stress related collisions as well," he says.

There were a total of 2,148 collisions in the region last year, which is up by 59 from the previous year.

Stezycki says one bright spot is that alcohol and drug-related crashes dropped from 63 in 2016 to 52 in 2017.

"That's improvement, that's progress. So, to us as a service and a unit it shows that our community and those who are visiting it understand the risks associated with that and we have an increased presence in our RIDE programs," says Stezycki.

The report shows that most alcohol and drug-related crashes took place at 1am and 3am and 4pm and 8pm and involve drivers in their twenties.

Police say December was the busiest month with 263 crashes.

Tuesdays and Fridays had the most collisions and they usually happened at 3pm and 4pm.

Stezycki says hopefully enforcement and education will make area roads safer.

"We'll look at those locations and we'll put together some targeted enforcement to try to reduce that number. That's the ultimate goal right, to make the roads as safe as possible for our community," Stezycki says.

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