CTV.ca News Staff
The Labour Day weekend highway safety blitz was dubbed 'Operation Broken Record' by Ontario Provincial Police because they've seen and heard it all before.
Sgt. Cam Woolley said officers have seen the same problems and heard the same excuses popular during previous roadside safety campaigns.
"About 200 unsafe vehicles taken off the road this weekend, some with no brakes, bald tires, wheels ready to separate, that sort of thing," Woolley said Monday.
"And also drunk drivers continue to be arrested, continue to be in crashes and Labour Day has traditionally been deadly and that's what we found this weekend."
By Monday afternoon about 2,000 charges had been laid province-wide for highway traffic act offences. Included in that group were more than 100 charges for people not wearing seatbelts.
The excuse officers usually hear is "I didn't have time." Still, said Woolley, "they had time to get a ticket."
Six people have also died in weekend accidents.
Surprising Woolley is the fact that a large number of people are driving unsafe vehicles.
"A part of Broken Record is a record number of unsafe vehicles that ministry of transport and OPP officers have apprehended this weekend," OPP Sgt. Cam Woolley said.
Criminals wanted on arrest warrants have also been caught during routine vehicle checks, including one man who was found with a large amount of marijuana after being pulled over for licence plates that expired two days earlier.
The remnants of tropical storm Ernesto passing through southern Ontario also wreaked havoc on the roadways. Woolley said on Sunday that about 130 crashes could be attributed to "people going too fast in the rain and hydroplaning."
Windy weather also contributed to improperly secured cargo flying from vehicles and onto roadways.
Items that littered the highways included a canoe, a fridge and a mattress that struck a police cruiser.
Some other specific highway infractions included a man being charged with drunk driving for the fifth time, while driving with a suspended license.
In another case police had to lay out a spike belt to bring a 200 km/h chase with a Volkswagen Jetta to an end.
On another occasion police found a man with a large quantity of marijuana. The borrowed car he was driving had expired license plates.
With a report from CTV's Jim Junkin and files from The Canadian Press
2,000 charges had been laid province-wide in Ontario for highway traffic act offences over the Labour Day weekend. More than 100 charges for people not wearing seatbelts. 17 drivers have been charged with impaired driving, 17 others received 12-hour suspensions.

Remnants of tropical storm Ernesto in southern Ontario could have caused accidents. OPP Sgt. Cam Woolley said on Sunday that about 130 crashes could be attributed to "people going too fast in the rain and hydroplaning."

Students heading to college residences posed another problem. Improperly secured desks, futon frames and even a refrigerator were found on provincial highways.

"About 200 unsafe vehicles taken off the road this weekend, some with no brakes, bald tires, wheels ready to separate, that sort of thing," said OPP Sgt. Cam Woolley. "And also drunk drivers continue to be arrested, continue to be in crashes and Labour Day has traditionally been deadly and that's what we found this weekend."