ORILLIA – During the OPP Festive RIDE campaign from November 24, 2014 to January 2, 2015, OPP officers laid 593 impaired charges and issued 485 Warn Range suspensions. Sadly, one person died in an impaired-related collision on December 20, 2014.

When comparing the numbers to last year, the OPP is disappointed to see little change between this season's campaign and the last one. During the 2013-2014 Festive RIDE campaign, the OPP laid 587 impaired charges and issued 504 Warn Range suspensions. Three people lost their lives in impaired-related road crashes over the 2013-2014 campaign.
Locally in Collingwood and The Blue Mountains OPP detachment area, officers charged 12 motorists with drinking and driving related offences and had three warn range suspensions.

OPP officers worked around the clock during the campaign, conducting more than 8,000 RIDE check stops throughout the province. These enforcement efforts alone are not enough to eliminate impaired driving and the threat it poses to the lives of innocent people.

Besides calling on all motorists to refrain from driving while impaired, the OPP counts on all citizens to be valued road safety partners and intervene when they suspect that someone is driving or about to drive after consuming alcohol or drugs.

"A driver who is impaired by alcohol or drugs is a driver who does not deserve to operate a motor vehicle alongside drivers who are responsible. Public intervention and continued education by both the police and valued community stakeholders is the only way that we as a society can continue to reduce occurrences involving impaired operation. Road safety is a shared responsibility and by working together we can continue to make a difference" said OPP Deputy Commissioner Brad Blair, Provincial Commander, Traffic Safety and Operational Support.

The OPP would like to thank and recognize the many Ontario drivers who did not drive over the holidays while impaired by drugs or alcohol. The OPP would also like to thank those who volunteered to be a designated driver, offered to put a guest up for the night or called them a cab after they had been drinking, called 9-1-1 to report an impaired driver to police or took some other action that helped take an impaired driver off the road over the holidays.

Source - OPP