Fatalities down, but more impaired drivers caught than ever: Ridge Meadows RCMP

RCMP in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows are crediting a recent crackdown on impaired driving with a dramatic decrease in road fatalities.

Ridge Meadows RCMP says between May 2017 and April 2018, they saw seven fatal crashes linked to impaired driving.

Police started Project Domino Effect that spring, and in the following 11 months saw just two impaired driving deaths.

In the period from March 2019 to the present, there haven’t been any, police said.

“Project Domino Effect was named because of the impact a decision to drive impaired has on community,” said Supt. Jennifer Hyland, officer in charge of the Ridge Meadows RCMP.

“When someone loses a life, their family, their friends and their community as a whole suffers the impact.”

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Police dedicated more than 70 officers to the initiative, and while they say the number of fatal crashes has decreased, Mounties are netting more drunk drivers than ever.

Prior to the crackdown in 2017, RCMP said, officers conducted 279 impaired driving investigations. The following year they conducted 486, and last year officers conducted 553 impaired driving investigations.

“Basically, the data shows that in spite of our concentrated efforts, and in spite of the messaging that our partners at ICBC and city hall do, people are still making the choice to drive while impaired,” said Const. Julie Klaussner.

“One life lost to impaired driving is too many.”

Of the nine fatal collisions involving impaired driving, four resulted in criminal charges, police said.