THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay Police Service saw a similar number of drunk drivers through this year’s Festive RIDE program, but a higher number of people driving high.
According to Traffic Unit Sergeant Justin Dubuc, police laid 31 impaired driving charges this year, and half were drug-related impairment.
Last year, officers arrested 27 impaired drivers, 16 were impaired by alcohol, eight were impaired by drugs, and three refused breath samples.
The annual holiday campaign ran from Nov. 19 to Jan 1. RIDE (Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere) programs are conducted year-round as part of regular enforcement to promote traffic enforcement, raise awareness and remind the public to help ensure community safety on roadways by reducing alcohol- and drug-impaired driving.
“It’s always alarming when we’re seeing these kinds of numbers with the public. It just doesn’t seem to be subsiding at all. Of course, we’re doing our best to make sure that doesn’t happen. And of course, with the new penalties coming into effect on Jan. 1, hopefully that’s a big deterrent for some of the drivers out there,” Dubuc said.
The province amended the Highway Traffic Act to address reckless and dangerous driving behaviours, including a lifetime driver’s licence suspension for drivers convicted of causing death while impaired, mandatory remedial education, and longer licence suspension.
Young and novice drivers will face an increase from three to seven days for first-time offences, and second-occurrence suspensions will increase from seven to 14 days.
For the second offence, Dubuc said drivers might be ordered to take part in substance-use treatment programs upon conviction as part of the remedial education.
He also said the province has increased the “look-back” period for prior infractions from five to ten years when assessing penalties.
“The new penalties in effect on Jan. 1, hopefully that’s a big deterrent for some of the drivers out there,” Dubuc said.
