It's the start of the busiest long weekend of the year, and the Ontario Provincial Police will be out in full force cracking down on impaired drivers, speeders and those not wearing seatbelts.

While the force recently moved away from calling their holiday safety campaigns "blitzes," officers and inspectors with the Ministry of Transportation will be monitoring roads and highways right across the province to reduce fatalities that have traditionally plagued the holiday season.

Under the new year-round initiative, every region is responsible for analyzing where accidents are happening and then focusing resources to those locations.

Some 11,000 charges were laid on Ontario highways during the last Canada Day weekend, which saw four people killed in crashes. Another died in a boating mishap.

OPP Sergeant Cam Woolley said his force is out to catch careless drivers who don't understand that speed kills.

"When it comes to speeding, a lot of people think it's a victimless crime. In fact, it is a crime, and there are victims," Woolley said.

The officer said new tougher penalties for reckless driving, including street racing, will cost drivers more than ever.

"Now with the new legislation under the criminal code, especially when it comes to race or dangerous driving, there are very serious criminal penalties," Woolley said.

Police will also hit the water looking for boaters who are drinking or not wearing their lifejackets.

The law states boats must have lifejackets, and those caught operating vessels while impaired could lose their driver's licence for up to one year. Boaters who blow close to the legal limit on a breathalyzer test can have their licence suspended for 12 hours.

Of the 36 people who died in boating accidents last year, 24 were not wearing a lifejacket.

During last month's Victoria Day safety campaign, police laid more charges than the previous year.

Impaired driving offences increased 40 per cent, seatbelt infractions jumped 51 per cent and speeding charges rose by 38 per cent.

Four people died on the roads during the May holiday weekend and there were two deaths on area waterways.

With a report from CTV's Roger Petersen