Fort Frances OPP has stepped up its enforcement of local roads and highways once again this summer with its Road Safety Value Partnership (RSVP) initiative.
Thanks to a fund contributed to by the Town of Fort Frances, Ministry of Transportation, and the Ontario Auto Insurance Coalition, extra patrol officers will be scheduled beyond regular duty to execute directed patrols to specifically target traffic violations.
“What we really want to target is the four-laner, line-ups, and speeders coming into town,” Cst. Cam Howard said.
In line with increased summer traffic, Cst. Howard noted the initiative is a necessary measure.
“We’ve literally had people come down the highway and drive into the back of boats,” he remarked. “When you’ve got a prop through your radiator, it’s kind of hard to get it apart.”
Other goals of the initiative include directed patrols in crosswalks, monitoring high-risk intersections, targeting aggressive driving, and other Highway Traffic Act and town bylaw violations.
With this initiative, said Cst. Howard, the police’s duty to enforce the law and the objectives of the insurance coalition work hand-in-hand.
“It’s really to cut down injuries and accidents. Some of the accidents we’re dealing with are $10,000 accidents,” he said.
RSVP was first initiated last summer.
In other news, Cst. Howard noted the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) summer camp is not being planned for this year.
“We found the interest wasn’t there,” he noted, adding that since DARE is only taught to split-grade classes every other year, there were fewer students learning about it.
Split-grade classes are common in rural schools, and 65 of the 68 kids who attended the camp last year were from out-of-town. And without the interest, organizers didn’t apply for the grants needed to hold the camp.
“But I think we’ll try for it next year,” said Cst. Howard.
The Community Policing Committee also is working on bringing DARE to grade 10 students this fall.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
