Winter is Over–Now It’s Car Crash Season

Now that winter has left Ontario, police and first responders are bracing themselves for what one headline called “trauma season“.  Although snow and ice make for dangerous driving conditions, smooth and dry roads mean more people travel, and they drive faster. Those high-speed collisions are deadly. Statistics show that in Ontario, auto crashes jump in April and stay high until fall.

Warmer weather also means more people are outside on and near roadways, especially vulnerable children on bikes and on foot. When school breaks for the summer, the risk children face is even higher.

Police and traffic experts agree: the higher speeds and inattention that warmer weather allow for are a deadly combination.

As the OPP highway safety division’s Sgt. Kerry Schmidt explains:

“In the summer conditions, when the roads are good, that’s when we have full-speed, high-speed collisions where drivers are losing control. … Their attention and their focus is diminished and if all of a sudden conditions change ahead of them, they might not be in a position to respond and then we’re dealing with high-speed collisions that often result in serious injuries or even death.”

So, although it seems counter-intuitive, spring and summer conditions require just as much vigilance from drivers.

Do you know what to do in the event of a car accident? Check out our previous post on how to decide whether to call the police or 911 – it also includes other helpful dos and don’ts that may not come to mind in the immediate aftermath of an accident.

We also have a helpful post on why you should call a lawyer after any car-related accident, regardless of whether you were at fault, and regardless of whether you were in the car, a pedestrian, or cyclist.