NEWS RELEASE
ONTARIO PROVINCIAL POLICE
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Members of the Huronia West detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) will be working alongside our community partners to ensure the safety of everyone who is out this weekend enjoying our area.
The OPP, along with Ontario Parks and bylaw officers from Wasaga Beach, Clearview and Springwater, will all be working together to ensure safety on our roadways, waterways and trail systems. Officers will be out actively enforcing all municipal, federal and provincial acts that govern the operators of both vehicles and vessels, and persons using public spaces such as beach areas.
The OPP have some reminders for all beach goers, motorists, marine operators and trail users.
Beach goers: Please obey all signage on the beach, and swim in designated areas only. Avoid distractions and watch over your children. Know your limits and always wear a life-jacket. Be aware of weather conditions and offshore winds. Inflatables can be dangerous.
Motorists: Please obey all posted speed limits, and be vigilant of construction zones and pedestrians.
Marine operators: Please adhere to speed limits and all rules and regulations as they pertain to boating. Be vigilant to others in the water such as swimmers and inflatables. Be aware of your wake and the effects it has on others.
Trail users: Watch for hikers, dogs and horseback riders. Stick to all the trail rules, regulations and etiquette as set out by the Central Ontario ATV Club, and Simcoe County Off-Road Riders Association. Trail wardens will be patrolling the trail system educating riders, and checking for compliance.
The OPP would like to remind the public of the app What3Words. In an emergency situation, if a caller contacts the OPP Provincial Communications Centre (PCC) and doesn’t know where they are, the app will help call takers pinpoint the caller’s location so that emergency services can respond more accurately and find the person in need. Through its global mapping system, the app labels every three square metres with a unique three-word location tag. The PCC is able to enter the three words into the system, which converts the tag into longitudinal and latitudinal co-ordinates. This process will assist OPP officers in locating parties in rural and forested areas where signal is limited, as well on the waterways. If a caller already has the app downloaded on their device, it works without internet or data, so the user will be able to provide the PCC with their location codes even in locations without cellular signal.
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