Since the lockdown began in March, we’ve been working and schooling primarily from home. The challenges posed by those isolation measures aside, COVID-19 has had a direct impact on our roads.
With most of us holed up inside, we’ve seen a decrease in the volume of traffic. However, emptier roads has meant more opportunity for some drivers to engage in excessive speeding, stunt driving, street racing and aggressive driving.
“As roads got quieter, people took advantage of the open roads,” affirms Sgt. Dan St. Amand of the York Regional Police’s Road Safety Bureau. “We saw the average speeds going up and the number of being people charged with stunts going up substantially.”
His views are echoed by a majority of Canadians (59%) who reported seeing an increase in dangerous driving while COVID-19 restrictions have been in place, according to a new poll that CAA recently conducted.
“These numbers are concerning,” says Teresa Di Felice, assistant vice-president of government and community relations for CAA South Central Ontario. “It doesn’t matter if you are going for a five-minute trip to the store, or a 30-minute scenic drive, keeping each other safe on and around our roads should always be top of mind.”