Checkpoints in Ontario can be set up to catch drunk drivers

Northeastern Ontario – Festive R.I.D.E. (Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere) roadside checkpoints have turn out to be a common part of the holiday season and an effective countermeasure to the road safety problem of impaired driving. A core traffic safety function of the Ontario Provincial Police, R.I.D.E. checkpoints could be set up at any time and at any place. The Festive R.I.D.E. focus begins this Friday, November 27, 09 until January 2, 10.

“Having ‘one too numerous’ is a crime once you get behind the wheel,” explains Inspector Mark Andrews, Highway Safety Division, Unit Commander – North East Region. “Drivers need to understand that impaired driving is a criminal offence due of the risk and the danger it represents to other road users. We want everybody to arrive at their holiday destination safely.”

In the North East Region, during the 2008 five-week OPP Festive R.I.D.E. initiative, officers stopped 129,331 vehicles at roadside checkpoints. As a result, 48 individuals were arrested and charged with criminal code alcohol-related offences. Officers also issued a total of 67 twelve hour suspensions and issued 51 ninety-day Administrative Drivers Licence Suspensions.

So far this year, the Ontario Provincial Police in the North East Region has charged 592 impaired drivers, another 22 refused {to offer a breath sample.

Since May, 2009, beneath the Safe Roads for a Safer Ontario Act, the former 12-hour administrative suspension for drivers whose blood alcohol concentration exceeds .05 milligrams has been replaced with a graded licence suspension period that includes a 3 day suspension for a first offence, a 7-day suspension for a second offence and 30 days for succeeding suspensions.

In 2009, Ontario Provincial Police in the North East Region issued 4 12-hour suspensions, 179 3-day suspensions and 195 7-day suspensions.

“Standing roadside in the cold, wind and snow is where you will find OPP officers throughout Festive R.I.D.E. and it’s a duty our members are committed to, given the astonishingly disappointing number of repeat offenders receiving 7-day driver’s licence suspensions,“ states Chief Superintendent Scott Tod, Regional Commander- North East Region. “Officers are working hard to make our roadways safe and it’s a dangerous job. Please be alert to the flashing emergency lights of a R.I.D.E. checkpoint and follow officers traffic direction. Road safety is everyone’s responsibility – if you choose to drink, decide not to drive.”

Visit the OPP website at www.opp.ca for regular updates of the results on the 2009 Festive R.I.D.E. program.

reference: BayToday.ca