No one in the RCMP North District region was seriously injured on the highways over the Canada Day weekend.
Measured from Thursday at 4 p.m. until Sunday night at midnight, the roads of the north were clear of major motor vehicle incidents.
Police are attributing the good news to several contributing factors.
"It is felt the increased police presence on the highways, along with the public heeding the police messaging before the weekend, paid off," said Sgt. Pat McTiernan of the region's traffic services department.
"The unseasonable weather, the closure of the highways north of Prince George, and the higher gas prices may also have contributed to lower traffic volumes noted by the patrol units."
It is hoped that this trend will continue throughout the summer. Long weekends are particularly troubling times for police and other emergency responders, due to the higher traffic volumes and all too often the extra alcohol and drugs involved.
"Overall, the most important part of the long weekend enforcement is that our patrol units were able to be on the highway, being visible, not sitting in a hospital emergency room or delivering devastating news to a next of kin," McTiernan said.
"Knowing that everyone made it to their destination safely makes our holiday long weekend satisfying too, even if we had to work and were away from our families."
McTiernan was one of those out enforcing, and he came back with the same results that the overall North District traffic force returned with. Speeds were down.
"We did have a few exceptions, and the vehicles were seized for seven days. Those ones were upsetting, but overall we noticed the speeds were markedly down," he said.
He credited a conscientious public paying attention to new legislation regarding aggressive driving and impaired driving, and increasing driver awareness about eating smartly and getting into a relaxed mind-frame when travelling.
