WINDSOR, Ont. — It’s the holiday season. You’re going to be meeting people socially.

Some of them, when they learn you’re in trucking, will offer an unsubstantiated opinion, usually something like "big trucks are dangerous and cause too many accidents."

They’re wrong. So commit the following statistics to memory.

Between 1988 and 2006, in Ontario alone, the number of big trucks on the highways increased by 58.5 percent and the number of traffic fatalities involving trucks went down by 32.5 percent.

That’s a big drop, over 19 years.

Those stats are courtesy of the Ontario Ministry of Transportation’s (MTO) Emna Dhahak, in response to some criticism in the wake of two truck accidents in the Windsor area recently.

In both cases, heavy loads coming off flatbed trailers caused most of the damage, spurring calls from some in the public and media to launch an investigation into flatbed truck securement in the area.

In the first incident, a coil of galvanized steel fell of a truck exiting the busy E.C.Row Expressway onto an SUV, narrowly missing the driver.

On Sunday, more tragically, some sheet metal coil went crashing into the cab of a truck driven by Adam Goran, killing the driver, after the truck had been involved in a collision.

Police are still investigating that accident.

In responding to questions about whether truck accidents were on the increase, MTO officials pointed out that not only are the numbers going down, Ontario has some of the most stringent guidelines in North America as well as the heftiest fines for unsafe tie-down practices.

Fines can hit $20,000 for an unsecured load and a driver can have his license lifted for 60 days. Plus the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) maintains a squad of officers especially trained to conduct safety inspections on big trucks.