More drunk driving charges laid during holiday season

FREDERICTON – RCMP in New Brunswick have charged 75 people with impaired driving as a result of a three-week enforcement campaign – up from 46 impaired driving charges during the same period a year earlier.

"Hopefully it’s because we did more enforcement this year," Sgt. Claude Tremblay said Friday.

About 20,000 vehicles were checked between Dec. 9, 2010, and Jan. 3, 2011.

Police also found 70 people not wearing their seatbelts – up from the 61 caught during the previous campaign.

There were 289 cases of speeding during that time span, a decrease from the 374 speeding tickets issued a year ago.

There were also six fatal collisions during the recent campaign.

Three of the victims were not wearing a seatbelt, and one was confirmed to have been impaired.