Almost 60 percent of Ontario motorists use cell phones while driving. Distracted driving is a consistent problem on roads despite laws that have been put in place to ban it. Attentive driving laws have been in place across Canada since 2008 and have been updated over the years to increase penalties. Still, in Ontario, distracted driving deaths have doubled since 2000. People know taking their eyes off the road is hazardous, but many do it anyway. About 58 percent of Ontario drivers say they use mobile devices while driving, according to a recent CAA survey. Incidents of distracted driving ove ..read more

Why are head injuries so common in crashes? In Toronto, car accidents frequently lead to severe injuries. Among the most common and most severe are traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), often referred to simply as TBIs. But just how prevalent are crash-related brain injuries in Toronto? What types of TBIs do individuals typically sustain in car crashes? And why do car accidents result in so many brain injuries? Moreover, what legal options are available to those who have suffered brain injuries? Let the Toronto car accident lawyers at Smitiuch Injury Law shed light on these crucial questions. How ..read more

How many cyclists and pedestrians are actually being injured in Toronto? Initial data collected by officials in Toronto about the number of bicycle and pedestrian accidents fell far short of the actual number of accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists in the city, according to a more recent study conducted by researchers in Toronto. "One of the surprises in our study is that, both for hospitalizations and for emergency department visits, about 80 percent of the bicycle-related injuries were not reported to have involved motor vehicles," Alison Macpherson, a professor at the School of Kin ..read more

Driving impaired can result in serious and fatal car accidents It’s well-known that impaired driving is dangerous. Yet every year in the Greater Toronto Area, drivers get behind the wheel despite being impaired. Too often, they cause car accidents that leave people seriously injured. But a new survey suggests the problem of cannabis-impaired driving is getting worse. In the survey conducted by CAA South Central Ontario (CAA SCO), 38 percent of cannabis-impaired drivers in Ontario said they consumed edibles before driving. That’s a 12 percent increase from the year before. It’s also more than ..read more

Drunk driving is a deadly problem during the holiday season Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) recently launched its 36th annual Red Ribbon Campaign in Toronto in an effort to educate people about the dangers of drunk driving during the holiday season, which remains one of the leading causes of holiday car accidents in Toronto. “It (impaired driving) still remains a deadly problem,” Toronto Police Acting Staff Supt. Kelly Skinner said in an interview with CTV News. “As of October 23, the Toronto Police Service has received more than 6,000 calls for service for impaired driving which represe ..read more

Toronto city officials want to streamline the process of installing more speed bumps, traffic cameras, and other traffic calming measures designed to reduce the number of car accidents in the city, according to a recent CBC News story about the proposal. "We are definitely not doing enough to save lives on our streets," Toronto Ward 11 City Councilor Dianne Saxe, a member of the Infrastructure Committee, said in a recent interview with the CBC. "We have the tools, we're just not doing it." Proposed changes for speed bumps and traffic cameras Toronto city officials and its City Council are con ..read more

Traffic congestion is a major problem in Toronto, raising the potential for serious and fatal car accidents. As we wrote about last month, the traffic in Toronto is actually ranked among the worst worldwide, according to a study. To address the danger and frustration posed by regular traffic jams, the Toronto Board of Trade recently unveiled an $85 million plan that includes the installation of more smart signals and offers recommendations for improved traffic flow. Contributing factors to Toronto's backed-up traffic Traffic officials say that Toronto's slow-moving traffic woes stem from a su ..read more

Heavy traffic in Toronto is more than just a nuisance. Toronto was recently ranked the 13th worst city in the world for driving, according to a recent study cited in the National Post. A similar study released earlier this year found that the problem is getting even worse in Toronto when it comes to traffic congestion, which is often associated with serious car accidents. "The findings, which ranked Toronto as the third worst city for traffic in North America, behind only Chicago and Boston, were significantly higher than the previous year's results when Toronto was identified as the 22nd wor ..read more

Auto speed enforcement cameras in Toronto appear to have vastly reduced driving speeds where they've been deployed. City officials say since adding the Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) devices, excessive speeding — driving over the speed limit by 20 km/h or more — is down 87%. Overall, at camera locations, the number of people speeding was reduced by 45%. According to data analysis, vehicle speeds were reduced by about 7 km/h where there were cameras. ASE technology helps, but car accidents still happen Toronto started utilizing the 75 ASE devices in 2020. At the time, speeding was so common ..read more

Wrist fractures and hand injuries are common in crashes. Whether it's a rear-end accident, T-bone crash, rollover, head-on collision, or another type of crash, just about any type of injury is possible in a car accident  - including wrist fractures. In a collision, the wrist can be fractured by the abrupt and unnatural movements of the body caused by the impact. During a crash, many people extend their arms forward to brace themselves, increasing the risk of wrist injuries. The intense pressure exerted on the wrists can result in fractures, even if other body parts remain unharmed ..read more