SGI advises Saskatoon drivers of two-day check stop initiative

Saskatoon drivers may be noticing more check stops around the city than usual. This is part of the selective traffic enforcement program taking place in Saskatoon from May 3 to May 4.

“It’s essentially a two-day enforcement blitz that brings to a particular community, in this case Saskatoon, a number of traffic enforcement officers from multiple agencies around Saskatchewan,” said SGI spokesperson Tyler McMurchy.

Those agencies are made up of municipal police agencies, the RCMP, Saskatchewan Highway Patrol, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Police, representatives from SGI, and the ministries of justice and finance.

“Yesterday there was seven check stops set up throughout the city and today there are seven, so there was a total of 14 over the two-day blitz. They’re set up at various location throughout the city, generally speaking at high traffic locations,” said Saskatoon Police spokesperson Joshua Grella.

“They’re going to set up in multiple locations around the city looking for speeders, distracted drivers, impaired drivers, commercial vehicle violations, vehicle equipment violations, people not wearing their seatbelt, all sorts of traffic safety issues,” McMurchy added.

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McMurchy said the program has been going on for a couple of years and won’t end here in Saskatoon.

Saskatoon Police conducting many check stops throughout 2022, and more are to come in 2023.

“In 2022 the SPS conducted over 200 traffic related projects, some were check stops targeting impaired driving and so we do have several others planned for this year,” said Grella. “We’d have a highly-visible police presence at these check stops, so first and foremost we would be hoping to deter high risk driving behavior before it even begins.”

According to McMurchy, there is more to come provincially as well.

“There will be five more of these throughout the warmer months to the end of September at various locations around Saskatchewan,” he said. “It’s a good reminder to people that traffic enforcement is as strong as it’s ever been in Saskatchewan.”

Now that the snow has melted and roads are more clear, McMurchy added there are some more common infractions found at check stops.

“Police will find lots of speeders, a lot of distracted drivers, they even catch impaired drivers.”

“These are daytime enforcement stops, but you still find impaired drivers – a small number but they do find them.”

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McMurchy said this is one of the reasons why, in SGI’s May traffic spotlight, it’s focusing on the daytime impaired. He says 35 per cent of impaired driving collisions in Saskatchewan happen between the hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

He adds traffic stops like these are a good reminder for drivers.

“It’s a highly visible reminder of the traffic enforcement that happens. They do issue hundreds of tickets over the course of a couple of days, so the officers are very busy,” said McMurchy.

McMurchy and Grella both said it’s always important to follow the law whether there is a check stop or not.

“When police are out there and we’re visible in the community, generally speaking behavior will be better whether that’s driving or otherwise,” added Grella.