After five weeks of traffic inspections as part of the Festive R.I.D.E., it appears Durham Vision Zero is paying off as lesser number of people have been charged with the drinking and driving violation this year compared to the 2018 campaign.
After the fifth week, the Festive R.I.D.E. team has charged a total of 81 motorists for drinking and driving offences. Last year at the same time, 87 had been charged, said a Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) media release.
Another 69 motorists have registered a WARN on a roadside screening device and had their driver’s licence suspended for 3 days. Last year at the same time, 85 drivers had their licences suspended for registering a WARN, it added.
In the fifth week of the Festive R.I.D.E program, DRPS stopped more than 3,000 vehicles and charging 13 drivers with drinking and driving offences.
Durham Regional Police Officers conducted R.I.D.E. checks in Ajax, Pickering, Whitby, Oshawa, Clarington, Scugog and Brock Township with the following totals: (2018 Festive R.I.D.E. stats from Week Five are in brackets)
3003 (3659) Vehicles stopped by R.I.D.E.
108 (129) People given Roadside Breath Tests
13 (25) People received “3/7/30 Day Suspensions” for registering a “WARN”
0 (N/A) Mandatory Roadside Breath Tests
0 (N/A) Persons arrested for impaired as result of Mandatory Tests
0 (N/A) People received “3/7/30 Day Suspensions as a result of Mandatory Tests
0 (N/A) People given “Approved Drug Screening Device” Tests
5 (6) Novice Driver received a “3 Day Licence Suspension”
13 (22) People were charged with Drinking and Driving Offences
19 (103) Criminal Code Offences
49 (69) Charged with various Highway Traffic Act Offences
0 (1) Drug Offences
1 (7) Cannabis Act offences
The R.I.D.E. Team welcomed Police Chief Paul Martin, Deputy Chief Dean Bertrim and Superintendent Teresa Hutchinson on the R.I.D.E line this week to help spread the message “Don’t Drink and Drive”.
Community partners Ontario Provincial Police and MADD Durham also joined the DRPS R.I.D.E. Team on two occasions this past week.
A complete list of those charged with Impaired/Exceed will be posted on DRPS website later this week at www.drps.ca under Hot Topics.
Note: Under the Ontario Highway Traffic Act, anyone charged with a drinking and driving criminal offence will have his or her driver’s licence suspended for 90 days and their vehicle impounded automatically for 7 days.