It’s a bittersweet accomplishment by Wellington County OPP during the festive RIDE campaign as the detachment led all OPP jurisdictions in alcohol-related charges.
Officers conducted over 100 RIDE checks from Nov. 24 to Jan. 2 and charged 27 people with driving while impaired or refusing to provide a breath sample.
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OPP said 34 drivers were suspended with 29 drivers losing their licence for three days, four receiving a seven-day suspension, and one receiving a 30-day suspension.
“Our detachment commander ensures we have a team out there throughout the festive R.I.D.E. season doing these spot checks and that goes to show why we have the numbers we have,” said OPP Const. Marylou Schwindt.
“(But) it’s discouraging that people are not getting the message.”
In addition to alcohol-related driving charges, officers issued 35 drug-related warnings for possession of marijuana. Nine people were charged with drug offences, including two people in separate cases being charged with trafficking.
There were seven crashes during the campaign in which alcohol was a factor. One of these resulted in the passenger suffering “critical life-altering injuries.”
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Schwindt said officers are doing everything they can, but called on drivers to make better choices.
“We had a team dedicated this season once again. They gave up their evenings and weekends to implement these RIDE checks,” she explained. “Front-line officers, if they weren’t busy on calls, they were setting up RIDE checks as well.”
“The awareness is out there, the knowledge is out there. People need to make better choices.”
Waterloo Regional Police said two drivers were charged with impaired driving in their jurisdiction, while 15 licences were suspended.
Guelph police released numbers from the New Year’s weekend and said out of 725 drivers checked, there were no alcohol-related suspensions.