NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO – The Dryden and Ignace Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police has recently posted to the OPP Northwest Region Facebook page urging the public to stop sharing pictures or information of crash scenes online.
“Death notifications over social media are not right for families and loved ones, please be respectful,” the Facebook post reads.
Dougall Media reached out to OPP Const. Brittany Bembeneck regarding the Facebook post.
“It is important for people not to share this information on social media because no family or loved one should have to learn about the death or injuries due to a motor vehicle collision via social media," Bembeneck said.
According to the OPP Northwest Region, between January and June 2024, 1,229 motor vehicle collisions resulted in nine fatalities and the 254 involving commercial motor vehicles (CMV) resulted in four fatalities on the highway.
So far, fatal collisions linked to poor driving behaviour on the part of CMV drivers are at 33 per cent, while in 2023, 44 per cent of the total collisions throughout the year were linked to poor driving behaviour on the part of CMV drivers.
The individuals who run the Skilled Truckers Canada and Highway 11/17 Kills People Facebook pages have their own thoughts on the matter.
“It's not fun for families, that's for sure. That’s why we created this group. Put pressure on the different governments so that they take the problem of all these accidents seriously and draw the attention of the media to what we have accomplished with this group by having made several interviews. Nowadays, everyone has smartphones and takes photos and videos, which in turn become mobile media. We are saddened for these families, we too have lost loved ones in all these accidents in northern Ontario,” the admin team from Highway 11/17 Kills People wrote in a joint statement.
The admin team from Skilled Truckers Canada also feel that having a visual representation of these casualties aids in advocating to higher levels of government that Ontario’s highways aren’t as safe as they are often depicted.
“This page is set up in part, to inform the public of the dangers on our highways. We do not feel that hiding the truth does anyone any favours. Yes, I agree it is a delicate issue. Being a parent myself who found out an offspring was killed on social media, I understand. That said, I am also grateful for the way I found out. Everyone has their own opinion. It's not our place to determine what is right or wrong for each individual,” wrote the admin team from Skilled Truckers Canada.
Both Facebook pages acknowledge they have disclaimers and sensitive content warnings in their About pages and on their post.
Their admins ensure that no blood, injured, or dead bodies are displayed inside the posted pictures.
“We never show the body. When we don't have the info, we specify that we don't have the info. We post it as we receive it. Not too soon and members are aware via a pin-post. They may leave the group anytime if they are disturbed,” Highway 11/17 Kills People said.
Skilled Truckers Canada said: “We ask people to not follow our page if the nature of what we post may trouble them. We also state that at some point you will see someone you may know be it, directly or indirectly. We take great strides to not show the faces of victims. Body parts. Or dead people. We make every attempt possible to eliminate identifiers of who they may be. We are not without heart. But we do recognize it's sweeping everything under a rug is allowing for more death and carnage on our highways.”
