TORNTO, Ont. — How many times have four-wheelers suddenly decided to let you know you’re number one by giving you the one-fingered salute?

On Monday — the final day of a blitz by the OPP Cottage Patrol — one driver was ticketed for doing just that.

The individual was driving without out his seatbelt when a car pulled along side and the second motorist began gesturing for him to put the safety device on. He extended his finger and thought nothing of it.

The only problem was the second motorist was actually a cop in an unmarked cruiser. He had decided to simply warn the man, but all that changed after the rude gesture. Not only did the bird earn him a charge, it was also discovered the apparently short-tempered individual was driving without insurance as he is currently banned from driving.

Police say their Cottage Patrol is behind a 300 per cent drop in roadway crashes on long weekends since before the program began three-years ago.

Another man, this one already under a lifetime driving ban for dangerous driving, added another dubious entry to his record at the start of the patrol Friday. Police said the unidentified 65-year-old from Stroud, Ont., tried to run down a police officer and rammed into another car before crashing his car into the centre median. Police said the man now faces a host of serious charges, including one for impaired driving.

“Going to the cottage used to be murder,” says Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Cam Woolley. “Motorists have told us it’s a much smother ride now.”

Over the weekend, police laid more than 600 charges and pulled many unsafe vehicles from the highways.