**TIMMINS POLICE SERVICE MEDIA RELEASE**

Today marks the beginning of Canada Road Safety Week, a 7-day national campaign aimed at making Canada’s roads the safest in the world. All enforcement agencies across the country have been invited to participate in this annual awareness campaign designed to increase public compliance with safe driving measures in order to save lives and reduce injuries on our roads.

The focus of this campaign is on behaviours that put drivers, passengers, pedestrians and other vulnerable road users at risk. This year, we want to take the ‘D’ out of Driving. To this end, each day of Canada Road Safety Week will be dedicated to one key risk factor for road safety. We will be reminding Canadians not to drive Drunk (alcohol-impaired), Drugged (drug-impaired), Drowsy (fatigue-impaired), Distracted, Dangerously (aggressive driving) or Detached (without proper occupant restraints).

“Road safety is a key priority for police agencies because about 5 in every 100,000 Canadians suffer fatal injury in motor vehicle collisions” says Traffic Sergeant Tom Chypyha.

“We want citizens in our community to remember that impaired, distracted, and aggressive driving incidents are directly linked to collisions and, as such, are preventable. Safe roads depend on drivers being focused at the wheel and making the right decisions in traffic.”

The Timmins Police Service responds to collisions resulting in serious injury on an ongoing basis. The Timmins Police Service require the public’s cooperation in order for the number of collisions to be reduced. Over the next week, The Timmins Police will be promoting positive public safety messaging focused on responsible driving behaviours. As well, officers will be enhancing patrol efforts to locate distracted and aggressive drivers so that their driving behavior can be addressed.

Canada Road Safety Week is sponsored by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) and Transport Canada. This initiative is part of Canada’s Road Safety Strategy 2025, which has a goal of making Canada’s roads the safest in the world by 2025.