Pandemic Does Not Stop Impaired Driving
The pandemic and the Public Health Order did not stop hundreds from driving while impaired during December.
In fact despite a potentially deadly virus out there, there were hundreds of potentially impaired people who got behind the wheel and decided to have too many before they hit the road.
SGI has released figures from the Traffic Safety Spotlight for December - which focused on impaired driving - and there were 369 impaired driving offences with 288 Criminal Code charges laid during the month.
Results throughout the entire year of 2020 showed a continued pattern of people choosing to drive while impaired. Despite being in a lockdown in the spring and a pandemic the number of those driving impaired continued forcing the police to continue their strong focus all year on catching people who made that unfortunate choice, a news release from SGI stated.
Strong enforcement is seen by SGI as a key means to reduce the number of fatalities and injuries.
Enforcement is working despite the continued number of people driving impaired with “those who still choose to drive impaired are more likely than ever to be caught – and face licence suspensions, vehicle impoundments, and potential fines and/or jail time imposed by the courts.”
The enforcement efforts are to continue with February, May, September and December to be four months impaired driving is the focus of a monthly Traffic Safety Spotlight.
Although impaired driving was the focus in December there were several other offences where police caught drivers not following the rules, but most notably there has been improvements in these areas.
Other results from the December Traffic Safety Spotlight showed lower-than-average numbers for the other offences in the Big Four categories:
414 distracted driving tickets (including 360 for cellphone use);
3,453 tickets for aggressive driving and speeding; and
207 tickets for seatbelts and child restraint being used incorrectly or not at all.