Project Safe Start 2020 Launches Across Halton

As children prepare to head back to school, the Halton Regional Police Service is once again getting ready to launch Project Safe Start. This will be the 13th year the Service has conducted their homegrown campaign, which focuses on education, awareness and high-visibility enforcement of traffic laws throughout Halton region. Project Safe Start 2020 will run between Monday, September 7 and Friday, September 18, 2020. It is important to remember driving safely is your priority: Drive at a safe speed. Aggressive driving such as speeding, tailgating and failing to comply with road signs increase the likelihood of a collision. Aggressive driving reduces your reaction time and makes your vehicle movements unpredictable to other drivers. Be aware of your surroundings when driving. There are three types of distractions: taking your eyes off the road, taking your hands off the wheel, and taking your mind off driving. Holding your cellular phone in your hands is an offence, regardless of whether you are talking on it, using the navigation system or changing a song. This is still applicable when stopped at a red light. Did you know that texting while driving increases the risk of a collision by 23 times? Drive responsibly. Drug-impaired driving and alcohol-impaired driving can result in serious injury or death to you, your loved ones and other road users. Impairment slows your ability to react to changing road conditions. Drinking before driving and any form of drug use will impact your ability to drive. With staggered return-to-school dates this year, and with secondary school adopting an amended learning schedule that includes a transition period in which students will be walking home at unconventional times of the day, officers are encouraging motorists to drive, at all times, with heightened awareness of increased pedestrian and vehicular traffic. Halton residents have ranked traffic concerns as their #1 policing priority. Project Safe Start is just one of many campaigns that the Halton Regional Police Service engages in throughout the year in an effort to educate the public and enforce the Highway Traffic Act and other traffic-related legislation. "As Halton's students return to over 160 educational facilities across the region, pedestrian and motor vehicle volumes will increase drastically. Our goal through Project Safe Start is to protect our youngest and most vulnerable road users," says Sergeant Ryan Snow, Traffic Services Unit. "The Halton Regional Police Service would like to encourage motorists to slow down, drive sober and avoid using their cell phone and other devices while driving. Regardless of who is at fault, when a vehicle collides with a pedestrian or cyclist, the consequences are usually tragic." ​Pedestrians, cyclists, motorists and police all play an integral role in ensuring safer roads within Halton Region - we thank the community for doing their part.