The last place anyone wants to spend New Year’s Eve is in a police cell.
Yet that’s what will happen if you are caught driving impaired, warns SGI (Saskatchewan Government Insurance).
Instead of music, chips, drinks and party favours, it will be concrete walls, cots, and other people who would rather be elsewhere.
SGI says there’s a simple solution: “Plan a safe ride so you don’t spend any part of New Year’s Eve (or any other day) in jail because of an impaired driving charge.”
Police officers will be out in full force on New Year’s Eve to keep roads safe as they kick off January’s traffic safety spotlight, SGI said.
“Whether it’s New Year’s Eve, or a random Thursday next September, don’t ever get behind the wheel if you’ve been drinking or using drugs,” Penny McCune, COO of SGI’s Auto Fund, said Monday in a statement.
“There’s always a better option than driving impaired, and it’s best to make a plan beforehand.”
Those options include:
- naming a designated driver;
- using a taxi, ride share, or designated driving service;
- take public transit — bus rides are free New Year’s Eve in Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert and Moose Jaw;
- book a ride with Operation Red Nose in Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Yorkton and the Battlefords; or
- spending the night with friends, family, or at a hotel.
SGI said police routinely catch between 200 and 400 impaired drivers each month, with the majority of charges laid made under the Criminal Code.
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