Photo courtesy Ontario Provincial Police - North West Region/Facebook

Ontario Provincial Police and the Ministry of Transportation are teaming up on an enforcement campaign.

Operation Safe Driver is a joint effort to address the rise in collisions involving transport trucks.

There were 9,110 collisions in 2022, resulting in 71 fatalities.

Police say that is the highest number of transport truck-related crashes on OPP-patrolled roads in more than ten years.

The incidents also account for 12 per cent of all collisions last year.

Eight people died among the over 630 collisions in northwestern Ontario.

More than 28 hundred charges were laid, many for improper lane changes, following too close and speeding.

OPP says it was those factors that led to many of the collisions.

Almost 40 per cent of all charges were against non-commercial or passenger vehicles.

“The data serves as a reminder to all drivers of the importance of sharing the road safely when traveling in and around large commercial vehicles,” states an OPP release.

Police say targeted enforcement this week aims to stop the risky behaviours of all drivers.