Inattentive or distracted drivers are responsible for twice as many deaths on OPP-patrolled roads so far this year as impaired drivers, the police agency says.

According to police statistics, the OPP have investigated 38 on-road deaths in 2016 involving inattentive drivers, and 19 involving impaired drivers – a gap that has never been seen before.

Ontarians need to be as vigilant about avoiding distracted driving as they are about the “equally threatening” behaviour of impaired driver, the OPP said in a press release.

Inattentive driving has been blamed for more than 600 deaths on OPP-patrolled roads since 2009.