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28, 2000 3 strikes and you're.CAUGHT! MPI and police encourage drivers to slow down. Get three strikes in baseball and you're out. But three strikes takes on a whole new meaning with a new road safety initiative from Manitoba Public Insurance and three police agencies - 3 Strikes, You're Out! 3 Strikes, You're Out will utilize MPI speed reader boards prominently placed in a targeted speed zone. Drivers will be given two opportunities to see their actual driving speed through the use of the speed reader boards. After the second speed board, police will be monitoring speed with a radar detector, with offenders being pulled over and ticketed. The 3 Strikes, You're Out campaign was launched earlier this week by the Brandon Police Service, with law enforcement agencies in both Winnipeg and Thompson also participating. "Speeding is a significant contributor to crashes in this province," said Shauna Crognali, Program Development Specialist with MPI. "In Manitoba, 15 per cent of all crashes are directly attributed to speed related. The higher the speed, the greater the risk of serious injury or death in a crash." It has been estimated that speed costs the Canadian economy close to $2 billion per year in health and related costs. Speed-related collisions cost MPI premium payers an estimated $45 million annually. "Motorists may be speeding because they're running a few minutes behind schedule," says Gary Shewchuk, Staff Sergeant, Winnipeg Police Service, "but that's no excuse for putting themselves and everybody else on the road at risk." In Manitoba, traffic crashes including speed resulted in a total of 121 deaths and over 9,500 injuries in 1998. Police reported data for Manitoba between 1991 and 1998 indicate on average each year, 14 fatal and 531 injury crashes occur that are attributed to at-fault drivers who speed.
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