Hamilton reaches 15 traffic deaths in 2022

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Published August 9, 2022 at 4:39 pm

Hamilton police service

With the year just more than 60 per cent over, the number of traffic deaths in Hamilton has risen to 15 after an autopsy report on a motorist who died in the winter was received by the poice.

Hamilton Police (HPS) said Tuesday (Aug. 9) that the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario and Ontario Forensic Pathology Service deem the injuries a 67-year-old man sustained during a February collision were the cause of his death.

On Feb. 22, shortly before 7:30 p.m. in the area of Queenston Rd. near Adair Ave. S., the male was driving westbound. His vehicle lost control and struck a concrete pole. The man was transported to hospital and later pronounced deceased. There were no other passengers, and the police will not be releasing the identity of the deceased.

“The investigation is now complete,” HPS says. “This marks the 15th traffic fatality of 2022.”

The total through the first 221 days of this year is already three higher than in all of 2021. When pro-rated over an entire calendar year, that works out to 24.77, more than double the total of 12 from 2021. (And that, in itself, was a 10-year high.)

Nine of the people who have died on city roadways this year were pedestrians. One was a cyclist.

The road safety issues in the city have sparked a public outcry. Hamilton city council has approved a series of measures designed to improve road safety, which include converting a span of Main Street to two-way traffic. A series of “quick changes” have also been made to Main, which heretofore was a five-lane one-way street through much of downtown Hamilton.

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