*This blog discusses the role of traffic stops in road safety and does not refer to other types of vehicle stops by police at roadside. It seems that traffic stops have become a newsworthy topic, sparking conversations about the role of policing in road safety across local, state, and national news outlets. A wide range of opinions have been expressed which have varied from a greatly reduced enforcement presence and curtailing of police powers all the way to calls for more consistent and stronger enforcement of traffic laws. This latter opinion has emerged in the face of dramatic increases ..read more

National Passenger Safety Week begins on Sunday, January 21, 2024 Cross-posted with permission from the US National Distracted Driving Coalition. Picture this: You’re riding in the passenger seat of your friend’s car when they reach down to pick up their phone and change the music. You offer to help, but they decline. They do this all the time. They know what they’re doing, and it will only take a second. Their eyes continuously dart from the roadway to the screen. You want to say something, but you don’t want to offend your friend. What would you even say? National Passenger Safety Week, wh ..read more

Hosted by PC Sean Shapiro, Toronto Police Service, members of the Impaired Driving Coalition of Canada, sponsored by Diageo Canada, participated in a Q&A vodcast to answer common questions and bust some myths about impaired driving. Guests: Mike Millian, President, Private Motor Truck Council of Canada CJ Hélie, President, Beer Canada Ariel Simms, Traffic safety coordinator, Saskatchewan Government Insurance Robert Ghiz, President & CEO, Canadian Telecommunications Association Jodi Rumble, General Manager, Diageo Canada Michael Stewart, Community relations consultant, CAA Learn more ..read more

Working together to make safe driving second nature. As the leaves change colour and temperatures drop, it feels like the start of a new year. It can be hard to break the habit of measuring time by a school calendar (even if we’ve been out of school a long time). This change of seasons also brings a change in activities with Fall and Winter posing some unique road safety issues. We tend to walk less and drive more with shorter days turning dark much earlier. Finishing sports practice at 7:00 PM now means a drive home in the dark and extra time needed to clear snow or ice off the car dependi ..read more

Acknowledge the impact of road crashes and work together to prevent them The third Sunday in November is recognized every year as the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (World Day of Remembrance). This year, it is observed across the globe on November 19, 2023, with Justice as its theme. We invite you to help honour and support World Day of Remembrance by hosting or registering an event, and by sharing the hashtag #WDoR2023 on social media. But you can also support these efforts by simply making safe choices on the road to help reduce preventable deaths and injuries. Why ..read more

In this episode of TIRF TiPS, Toronto Police Constable Sean Shapiro and Robyn Robertson, TIRF President & CEO discuss the return to school and some back-to-basics for drivers. This episode covers safety for students travelling to and from school by walking, cycling, riding or driving, as well as the need to pay attention to speed, school zones, drop-off areas, roundabouts, school buses, large trucks and emergency responders. This episode has something for everyone of all ages, so be sure to tune in and share. Be sure to check out our #MySafeRoadHome blog, Back to school means back to basi ..read more

Top safety strategies for driving around large trucks No matter where you drive on the almost 900,000 kms of roadway in Canada (or more than 4 million kms in the US / 559,234 miles), odds are you’re sharing the road with large trucks. If you’ve been driving for more years than you care to count (like us), chances are the more memorable takeaways from driver education classes all those years ago focused on seatbelts, speeding and shoulder checks. I suspect many of you might be hard-pressed to recall any teachings about sharing the road with large trucks in a classroom. I hadn’t really though ..read more

Rules make the road predictable and reduce the ‘unexpected’ As summer 2023 draws to a close, many of us are scrambling to squeeze out the last vestiges of vacation before returning to the grind of reality, responsibilities and routine. Let’s face it, we are less than enthusiastic about leaving behind beaches, parks, picnics and road trips. As we brace ourselves for the onslaught of homework, carpools, lunches and afterschool activities on top of our own workload of meetings and deadlines, let’s embrace the excitement of new classes and friends, new adventures and new learning. Speaking of ne ..read more

Does fuel efficient or eco-driving result in safer driving? It comes as no surprise that the worldwide supply chain of materials and goods (and all our Amazon Prime deliveries) would grind to a halt without the trucking industry. The costs for consumers are directly impacted by the number of stops in the supply chain, and the transportation costs of getting from point A to point B. Two of the largest expenditures for trucking companies today are fuel consumption along with vehicle maintenance and repairs from wear and tear and collisions. The good news is that efforts by the trucking indus ..read more

In this episode of TIRF TiPS, Toronto Police Constable Sean Shapiro and Craig Lyon, TIRF Director, Road Safety Engineering, discuss roundabouts. Download and share TIRF’s infographic on roundabouts available in JPG or PDF. Also, be sure to check out our #MySafeRoadHome blog on roundabouts: Source documents and resources: Nearly 20,000 vehicles went through red lights in Hamilton in 2022, according to city camera data, CBC News, March 18, 2023 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/red-light-cameras-2022-1.6783209 Understanding & Preventing Distractions on the Road: #Infographic, T ..read more