The OPP stepped up its patrolling and enforcement over the Labour Day Weekend with "Operation Maximum Effort," with the Dufferin detachment laying more than 100 charges against motorists, including 95 speeding charges, two cars seized for racing, and six for seatbelt violations.

Dufferin detachment commander Staff Sgt. Steve Sills said the speeding charges were up 37 from the same weekend last year, but could not say if this was the result of increased police vigilance or more drivers speeding.

He did point out, however, that the number of accidents has been steadily declining. There were just two reported in Dufferin this year, compared with three in 2008 and eight in 2007.

Sgt. Sills said accident numbers are "a good indicator of how fast people are actually driving."

Operation Maximum Effort was targeting aggressive drivers and marine operators not wearing seatbelts, who failed to have proper marine safety equipment — particularly life vests/personal floatation devises (PFDs), — and people drinking and driving either a motor vehicle or marine vessel.

The OPP has responded to an inordinate amount of fatal water mishaps this summer. Over the Civic Holiday long weekend alone, three people lost their lives on the province's waterways.

OPP marine units were out in full force on the waterways over the long weekend. Boaters face the same penalties for impaired boating as they do for impaired driving, as well as for other offences.

"PFDs and life vests are of no use to you if you're not wearing them," OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino said in a press release, "and the same goes for seatbelts in your vehicle."

To support Operation Maximum Effort, the OPP secured an additional airplane to supplement its existing units and further enhance traffic surveillance throughout the province over the long weekend. "The plane has proved to be a very effective tool for our Provincial Traffic Safety Plan (PTSP) and assists our officers to identify excessive speeders and aggressive drivers," said Chief Superintendent Bill Grodzinski, commander of the OPP Highway Safety Division.