QUEEN’S PARK, Ont. — The Ontario government has announced the winners of the sixth annual Road Safety Challenge, held in communities across the province in May.

The six winning communities, according to Transportation Minister Brad Clark, made significant contributions to road user safety in their communities.

This year, the Oxford County Injury Prevention Team from Woodstock won for its overall program, which included safety stopping zone awareness, a mock car crash with a staged helicopter rescue and bicycle helmet clinics.

“I’d like to congratulate the Oxford County team and all of our other winners for mobilizing their communities to take up the road safety challenge,” says Clark. “And I’d like to thank every participant in the 2001 Road Safety Challenge for their contributions to making our roads safer.”

Winners in the five other categories are: Impaired Driving: Sudbury Road Safety Challenge Committee; Aggressive Driving: Chatham-R-U-Safe-CK; Unsafe Driving: Timiskaming Road Safety Coalition; Children’s Safety: North Grenville Road Safety Committee; Community-identified Road Safety Theme: Niagara Road Safety Team.

The efforts by the Timiskaming Road Safety Coalition even included a No Zone demonstration to show car drivers why they should avoid driving in the blind spots of truck drivers.

Co-ordinated by the Ministry of Transportation, the Road Safety Challenge is a week-long, community-based education and awareness campaign. This year’s challenge ran in a record 35 communities across Ontario. Next year’s event has already attracted a sponsorship of $20,000 from State Farm Insurance.