Hundreds of Impaired Driving Charges Laid in OPP Festive RIDE

Published December 27, 2017 at 8:01 pm

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Hundreds of drivers across Ontario are facing impaired driving charges — and provincial police aren’t done yet.

Roughly 478 suspected impaired drivers have been arrested and charged since the Festive Ride campaign kicked off on Nov. 24.

That means they allegedly had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) over 0.08.

Meanwhile, 316 warn range suspensions were issued by OPP from Nov. 24 to Dec. 25 — that means a BAC fell between 0.05 and 0.08.

So far this year, 37 people have died in collisions “linked to an alcohol or drug-impaired driver, 19 of whom were innocent victims,” say OPP.

“Sadly, 2017 marks the fourth consecutive year to see a higher number of innocent people killed than impaired drivers who caused the collision.”

Over the past 15 years, 987 people have died in preventable alcohol/drug-related collisions on Ontario Provincial Police (OPP)-patrolled roads.

Of the 987 people, 464 (47 per cent) “were innocent victims in these crashes, while the other 523 (53 per cent) were the at-fault impaired driver,” say police.

OPP are reminding drivers to celebrate responsibly.

The campaign ends Jan. 2.

Peel police are running a similar crackdown locally.

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