RIDE stats show impaired driving down in Guelph, up in Ontario’s West Region

The number of impaired drivers caught during the most recent festive RIDE campaign is up, or down, depending on which area you are looking at.

The Guelph Police Service announced that the six-week campaign that wrapped up on New Year’s Day saw only two charges laid for impaired driving.

It says officers also issued three-day licence suspensions to six motorists who registered a warning on roadside devices. More than 1,600 vehicles were stopped after the campaign began in mid-November; 60 drivers were asked to provide breath samples.

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Across Wellington County, OPP laid 14 charges of impaired operation, 11 for impaired driving with a blood alcohol level of over 80, and three more for refusing to submit a breath sample. There were also four warn range alerts.

Const. Joshua Cunningham said in a statement that some of the charges were the result of traffic complaints. He said that shows the community is backing police’s commitment to road safety.

In a news release, the OPP says of the 13,197 vehicles that passed through RIDE checks, 353 charges were laid for impaired driving in the West Region corridor. The number of charges laid is up from 278 in 2022.