Corporal Darrin Turnbull of the Airdrie RCMP said officers conducted three Checkstops on area roads the evening of Sept. 5 and pulled over 2,500 vehicles.
RCMP across Canada were out patrolling and watching for impaired drivers on Sept. 5, as part of the National Impaired Driving Strategy.
According to Alberta Transportation, one in five drivers involved in fatal collisions in Alberta had been drinking prior to the collision.
“We issued three roadside suspensions for alcohol,” Turnbull said.
“There were four other people who were administered roadside screening devices and passed, so they had been drinking but were below 50 milligrams.”
Turnbull said response to the initiative was positive.
“We were pleased to see that here in Airdrie there was nobody who was over the legal limit of 0.08 milligrams, so no Criminal Code impaired driving charges and no Criminal Code drug charges either.”
Turnbull said officers were encouraged to find so few people under the influence during the Sept. 5 Checkstops.
“It appears that some people realize the importance of not drinking and driving so we’re happy to see that,” Turnbull said.
According to Superintendent Howard Eaton, officer in charge of the RCMP Traffic Section for K Division in Alberta, approximately 800 people die each year in Canada in a collision caused by impaired driving. In contrast, the number of homicides in Canada in 2012 was 543.
“We lose about 250 more Canadians on the roads each year due to impaired driving than we do to homicides,” Eaton said. “The average person doesn’t consider themselves capable of murder, but if you get behind the wheel of a vehicle when you are impaired, you risk becoming just that.”
Eaton said the National Impaired Driving Strategy was launched in December 2013.
“It’s a strategy that was developed in Ottawa by the commissioner (of the RCMP),” Eaton said. “They have tasked all RCMP members with making it a priority to take impaired drivers off the road.”
Eaton said the first Canada-wide enforcement event took place on Dec. 7, 2013, followed by two additional events on March 27 and June 27 of 2014. Officers laid a total of 363 impaired driving by alcohol charges and 12 impaired driving by drugs charges over the course of the three events.
If you have any information on any crime, call your local RCMP detachment or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
