Springfield Police are drawing attention to driving behaviours with the release of photographs of collisions that have happened in the past year.
Constable Jesse Zillman says we should practice safe driving habits throughout the year, regardless of the season.
“You would like to hope that most collisions are restricted to the winter, where weather conditions are a dominating factor, but that's unfortunately not the case,” he says. “We do see collisions caused by poor driving behavior and other preventable factors like impaired driving, speeding, sometimes distracted driving, all year round.”
Zillman adds they are starting to see more off-road vehicles being used, now that the weather is warming up.
He says it is important that riders understand the rules that apply to them, even though they are not on the roads.
“They really shouldn't be on the roads at all. They are prohibited from operating on a highway unless they need to cross it in certain places,” Zillman points out. “People are required to have helmets and they're still responsible for stopping for the police when we attempt to pull them over. And all of those things are part of the Off Road Vehicle Act that governs how you could use your off-road vehicle.”
Zillman believes that some people might not realize that an off-road vehicle is considered a conveyance. This means operating an ORV while impaired carries the same risks and consequences as any other vehicle.
On May 12th in the late evening hours, Springfield Police noticed an ORV traveling down a provincial roadway at 105 kph in zone where the speed limit is posted at 60 kph. Police report the ATV at first tried to flee but stopped after a short period of time.
The officer immediately observed the driver to be impaired and they were arrested. Following their arrest, they provided samples of their breath at one and a half times the legal limit (.12).
The driver was released to appear in court at a later date to answer to the charges. They also racked up an immediate roadside impound and several provincial tickets in the process, police report.
Road Safety Week concludes today and to recognize the topic, Springfield Police took to social media to issue a reminder about the consequences of unsafe driving habits.
As a police service, one of our core responsibilities is public safety - which includes the safety of all users of our roads.
There are a number of busy roadways that pass through the RM of Springfield and as such we respond to a large number of preventable collisions every year.
Not all collisions are preventable, but many involve impairment, speed, distracted driving, reckless behaviours or in some cases all of the above.
We are often first on scene at fatal collisions and have witnessed people take their last breaths while we, and our emergency services partners in the RCMP, Springfield Fire and Rescue and Manitoba EMS are furiously trying to save them.
The police then bear the responsibility to notify the next of kin of the tragedy that has occurred, a job that is usually tougher than attending the collision.
We've posted a collage of photos that are a small sampling of collisions we have attended in the last 12 months.
No photos of fatal collisions have been included.
We want these photos to remind users of our roadways that reckless driving behaviours can have catastrophic consequences and those consequences reverb throughout our community.
Even when Road Safety Week has come and gone, we will continue to work through a combination of education and enforcement to keep our roads safe.
We are users of these roads. Our families, friends, colleagues and neighbours use these roads and we want them to be as safe as can be. And personally, waking up a family to tell them their loved one is gone is not something we want to have to keep doing. - Facebook/SpringfieldPolice2016, posted on May 19, 2022.