File photo by Tamara Baluja/Torstar Netywork
Males are more likely than females to die in traffic collisions because they are not buckling up on provincial roads, according to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
Statistics collected by the OPP over the past five years (2011-2015) indicated a total of 332 people have died in collisions on OPP-patrolled roads as a result of not wearing a seat belt.
According to OPP data, 261 of the victims were males and 71 were females.
Caledon OPP Detachment, which serves parts of Brampton and Mississauga, on roadways including Hwy. 410 and Hwy. 403, [participated] in a Provincial Traffic Safety Initiative focusing on seat belts this Easter weekend.
Police said there have been almost four times as many male seat belt-related deaths as female deaths.
“Our data suggests a strong presence of male drivers and male passengers who believe that they are at a lower risk of being involved in a collision than other people, and who do not see a need to wear a seat belt,” said OPP Commissioner Vince Hawkes in a written statement released March 21. This attitude works against our efforts to save lives on our roads.”
Community Safety and Corrections Minister Yasir Naqvi encouraged all drivers and passengers to take the few seconds required to buckle up.
OPP data also revealed more than three times as many unbuckled drivers (252) died in collisions as unbuckled passengers (80) over the last five years.
The number of seat belt-related deaths among children under 16 years of age remains the lowest of all other age groups, according to this OPP data.
Between 2011 and 2015, nine children have died because they were not properly restrained in the vehicle.
Getting ejected from a vehicle almost always ends in death, police emphasized.
Besides the use of seatbelts, officers [conducted] enforcement and education associated with other negative road behaviours, including aggressive driving, driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol and driving while distracted.
Source: The Mississauga News