RCMP to bolster traffic enforcement after ‘concerning’ spike in deadly collisions

Manitoba RCMP are boosting traffic enforcement after a spike in fatal collisions.

So far this year, 73 people have been killed in 65 collisions — a 28 per cent increase from the 57 deaths in the same January to October period last year, the Mounties said Friday.

The increase in fatalities is 28 per cent higher than the province’s five-year average.

“It’s concerning to me personally, but it’s also concerning to us, the RCMP, to see this many crashes occurring and this many people losing their lives,” RCMP traffic services enforcement commander Staff Sgt. Jon Greer said.

He said more officers will patrol the province’s highways, set up checkstops and monitor drivers’ speed as a result of the startling development.

This month alone, eight collisions resulted in eight people losing their lives.

RCMP said 25 of the 73 people killed were under the age of 30.

Young people have less experience and are more prone to be distracted or take unnecessary risks, Greer said.

Intersections were the site of 14 of the deadly collisions.

On Monday, a semi-trailer and a passenger vehicle collided at an intersection 35 kilometres north of Emerson. A 19-year-old man in the vehicle was killed, and four other teens inside, including the driver, were injured.

Multiple factors, including alcohol and/or drug use, speed and seatbelt use were cited in the collisions this year, police said.

Ten fatal crashes involved off-road vehicles, such as ATVs, dirt bikes and snowmobiles.

“It saddens us that despite all the work that we do and the education that we provide and the enforcement that we’re trying to do on the roadways to educate people to drive safely, to wear their seatbelts, to not take risks, it’s still happening,” Greer said.

Bonnie Borsa lost her 18-year-old daughter, Maya, on Sept. 6, after a two-vehicle crash killed four teenage friends at an intersection on Highway 8 just west of Winnipeg Beach.

About a week after the collision, provincial workers installed flashing lights on the two stop signs, refreshed the rumble strips and painted fresh lines at the crossing.

Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure had conducted a crash-site review, which is standard after a fatal collision.

Borsa said improvements to intersection infrastructure across the province are needed to prevent fatalities. Similar intersections in the area lack proper lighting, she said.

“You can make all kinds of changes you want now, but it doesn’t bring my daughter back. It might prevent future accidents for some other family that would never have to suffer like we had to over a senseless tragedy,” Borsa said.

“Something needs to change sooner than later, no matter what it costs, because you can’t put a price on somebody’s life.”

matthew.frank@winnipegfreepress.com