Essex County OPP laid 18 charges related to impaired driving over the holiday season — a 29 per cent increase for our region compared to last year.
But the statistic isn’t so bad considering that Essex County OPP held 80 RIDE stop events this season — almost quadruple the number they conducted in 2016/2017.
The annual OPP campaign to Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere during the most festive time of year lasted from Nov. 24 to Jan. 2.
In 2016/2017, the campaign resulted in 14 charges of impaired operation of a motor vehicle, having blood alcohol exceeding 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres, or refusing to provide a breath sample — the results of 21 RIDE stops.
For 2017/2018, OPP stepped up the number of RIDE stops to 80 across Essex County — a 381 per cent increase. Several stops were conducted in cooperation with Windsor police.
While the number of impaired driving charges rose, the number of “warn range” suspensions — issued for blood alcohol readings of 50 to 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres — decreased from 27 to 22.
Across Ontario during the holiday season, OPP charged 587 motorists with impaired driving and handed out “warn range” licence suspensions to 366 others.
All told province-wide, 44 people were killed in alcohol or drug-related collisions on OPP-patrolled roadways in 2017.
