Sept. 4th, 2016, is a day that will forever linger in Alyscia Kaufmann’s memory. Her husband Tanner was killed by an alleged drunk driver just outside of Regina.
“Drinking and driving ruined my life. I’m living my worst nightmare every day,” she said.
READ MORE: Regina man charged with impaired driving in death of Tanner Kaufmann given bail
The driver of the vehicle, Colby Heid, is charged with impaired driving causing death. He is just one of the 240 people province wide who received an impaired driving offence in September, according to Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI).
That comes to eight people per day being caught impaired behind the wheel this month.
“Eight people a day, that blows my mind. It’s such an easy choice not to drink and drive,” Alyscia said.
“It baffles my mind, and it comes down to we have this culture in Saskatchewan, and these rural roads and taking the back way home.”
In addition to a cultural shift, Alyscia would like to see stiffer penalties for impaired drivers.
SGI and the Justice Ministry are currently working on some new initiatives that are expected to be announced soon.
Kelley Brinkworth, SGI media relations manager, said it’s good that police are catching impaired drivers, but the numbers are still disappointing.
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Based on SGI’s reports, September is a below average month in 2016 for impaired driving offences. With 2,365 total offences, the monthly average is about 264.
This means approximately nine people per day have been caught driving impaired this year.
“It’s great that police are stopping them, and getting those drivers off the road, but the fact that so many people continue to do it is very disheartening,” Brinkworth said.
Police in Moose Jaw, Sask., and Regina regularly engage in mobile patrols dedicated to catching impaired drivers.
In Regina, Sgt. Ian Barr said this involves bringing in officers for overtime. Those officers focus solely on impaired drivers, and leave emergency calls to officers on regular duty.
“We’ll focus on one area of the city, for example South Albert, or the Dewdney bar strip, or Rochdale, and target our enforcement in those areas,” Barr explained.
Both agencies also talk about the benefits of the Report Impaired Drivers (RID) program. This is where drivers are encouraged to pull over and call police if they spot a motorist on the road they think may be impaired.
Barr said impaired driving is a problem police, citizens, SGI and government need to work together to fully address the problem.
Cliff Froelich, deputy chief of the Moose Jaw Police Service said that they do what they can, but the amount of impaired drivers is trying.
“It’s frustrating for us as an agency to have these drivers continue to … whether it’s new drivers, experienced drivers, repeat offenders, new offenders, it’s frustrating for us because it takes up so much of our resources,” he said.
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