Winter storm drove Ontario commercial vehicle collision rates up 451%: Geotab
New data from Geotab shows Winter Storm Fern resulted in triple-digit increases in ‘collision-level events’ among commercial vehicles on major Ontario highways compared to the average over the previous two weeks.
Geotab analyzed commercial vehicles’ telematics data from Monday, Jan. 26 through Wednesday, Jan. 28 and compared it against the average collision rates of from Jan. 12-21. The results have shown that collision-level events rose 323% on Monday, Jan. 26 and increased by 319% on Tuesday, Jan. 27, peaking on Wednesday with a 451% increase.
“The data we are seeing is unprecedented for a single weather event this season,” said Mike Branch, vice president of data and analytics at Geotab, in a news release. “We aren’t just seeing a slight uptick in collisions; we are seeing collision rates triple and quadruple in a matter of days. Wednesday saw a 451% surge alone. This confirms that road conditions deteriorated faster than many commercial operators could adapt.”
In a separate release, Geotab said it also recorded a 53% increase in national commercial vehicle collision volume in the U.S. since Friday evening. The company compared collision levels to the average of the previous two weekends and identified Maryland reporting the sharpest increase by volume, followed by Kentucky and Indiana.
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This could probably be directly related not so much to mother nature but rather the article on MTO investigation regarding driver exam fraud cases.
Hopefully no motorists were killed during all these events.
What did we expect? There are a lot of drivers out there now who haven’t driven on anything more slippery than sand.
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We need gov insurance like MB sask and B C with proper training of truck drivers and mechanics
We also need receivers to not fine trucks for late deliveries and work with the city to have safe overnight parking at or very close the receiver with one night per delivery paid for by the receiver
We also need to ask why so many people often truck drivers hitch hiking in snow storms see C BBC article homeless taxi london
The new kind of drivers won’t slow down ,they think the posted speed limits are what they have to do. I believe the companies may be pushing them. Just remember drivers you are the captain of your ship ,no load is worth your life or someone elses.