Speeding charges have nearly doubled so far this year across Essex County. Members of the Essex County OPP Detachment Board heard Monday that year-to-date, Essex County OPP officers have laid 5,106 speeding charges, a 90.2 per cent increase over the 2,684 charges laid between January and the end of August 2025. Police laid 2,241 charges during the same time span in 2024. Essex County OPP Insp. Jamie Smith says although province-wide traffic campaigns are on weekends and long weekends, their officers are asked to be “on campaign” every day. “I don’t know if it’s just the focus of being visible, officers being out there interacting with the public, or if there is a concern,” he says. “Everybody is in a hurry, but if everybody takes 10 extra minutes a day to slow down and get to your destination on time and safely.” In August alone, 750 speeding charges were laid by OPP officers, up 96.9 per cent over the 381 laid in August 2025 — 318 charges were laid in August 2024. Smith says they’re asking their officers to be out there and be visible for both enforcement and education. OPP are responsible for policing Tecumseh, Lakeshore, Kingsville, Essex, Harrow, Leamington, and Pelee Island and also handle traffic policing on Highway 401, Highway 3, and Highway 77. Smith says they count on people in the communities for complaints on areas where this is speeding. “It is a lot of the sideroads; it’s the streets we all live on, and we see the vehicles speeding by,” he says. “Sometimes perception is not reality, but we’ll be out there and we will check it out.” During the OPP’s most recent provincewide traffic campaign over the Labour Day long weekend, officers across Essex County laid 165 speeding tickets, which was the most in the OPP’s West Region.
