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A small but determined group of professional truck drivers is pursuing its goal of "drastically improving the safety of all who use our highways."
On behalf of Truckers for Safer Highways, Travis McDougall says he and the group's other members spend the majority of their lives on our highways and, more than anyone, see the growing problems developing on them.
"We started this effort due to our concerns while doing our jobs and travelling these highways," he shares.
McDougall drives for a medium-sized fleet that services most of northern Ontario, into Quebec, regionally, and a long-haul division that services western Canada right to the west coast. Based out of Kitchener, Ont., McDougall notes he and his colleagues travel the northern highways and drive right across Canada on many other dangerous roads daily.
"We believe the public is at a high risk of injury or death each time they enter a major transportation route within Canada," says McDougall. "There are more inexperienced drivers on our highways than experienced. Unfortunately, that issue is compounded with rapidly changing weather conditions and over-confidence and poor judgment in making safe choices while operating commercial vehicles."
The fledgling Truckers for Safer Highways campaign has already caught the attention of Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Michael Mantha — who the group says has reached out in an effort to assist in reaching their goal — and comes mere weeks after a separate, highly publicized online petition focused on safety on the northern stretches of Highways 11/17 made inroads with the public.
As of the first week of January, that petition has in excess of 11,000 signatures.
"People are dying on our highways, continues McDougall. "The public is in more danger now on the highways than ever. We need solid solutions followed by swift action and so far we have seen very little of either from any of our government representatives."
The group reports it has made concerted efforts to contact government officials with the goal to encourage true reform in the training of commercial truck drivers as well as improvements as it pertains to the enforcement and regulation of already existing rules and regulations within the industry.
As an example, McDougall shares the 2021 follow-up to the Auditor General's 2019 report showing a significant reduction in MTO officers across the province.
He points out a recommendation was given to the MTO to reconcile that reduction in staff and 18 other issues that exist with commercial vehicle enforcement. In two years, McDougall observes just nine of 51 total actions recommended across those 19 points have been fully implemented by the MTO but drafting more enforcement officers was not one of them. Another 13 are in the process of being implemented, and 29 action items have achieved little or no progress.
"This one issue alone creates a major opening for dangerous conditions and unsafe drivers and vehicles to continue to travel our highways unchecked and more so in the northern highways," he advises.
