Saturday, December 3rd was National Impaired Driving Enforcement Day, and in Saskatchewan there were 43 different checkpoints across the province. The efforts led to 1,755 vehicles being checked and 13 impaired driving charges were laid, 11 roadside suspensions for below Criminal Code alcohol-related impairment and 4 roadside suspensions for below Criminal Code drug-related impairment.

In one incident, around 10:30 in the morning, a 911 call about erratic driving, reported that a vehicle had almost rear-ended a semi while speeding on Highway 16 near Maidstone. Officers found the vehicle parked on the side of the road with a man in the passenger seat. Police there were signs of impairment, and officers noticed there were no footprints in the snow going around the vehicle, so it’s alleged the man was actually the driver. The 21 year old is charged with impaired driving, and impaired driving while over 0.08.

Saskatchewan RCMP detachments, together with Combined Traffic Services Saskatchewan (CTSS) police officers from the Saskatchewan RCMP, Weyburn Police Service, Estevan Police Service, Moose Jaw Police Service, Regina Police Service, Saskatoon Police Service and Prince Albert Police Service participated.

The first week of December was also Canada Safe Driving Week, and during that week Combined Traffic Services Saskatchewan officers checked 2,470 vehicles. From those checks, 604 speeding charges were laid, along with five alcohol impaired driving charges. There were almost 1,600 warnings issued and 100 distracted driving charges from using a cell phone while driving.

Police report that an RCMP CTSS Officer clocked a driver going 184 km/h in a 100 km/h zone on Highway 13 near Griffin and Weyburn around 7:30 in the evening on December 4th. The driver’s early Christmas gift was a $1,179 ticket for going over the speed limit by more than 50 km/h.

Sgt. Garnet Waldbauer of Saskatchewan RCMP’s CTSS Unit says, “We want to thank the public for continuing to report suspected impaired drives. We make every effort to locate them. One call is all it takes to help increase road safety in your community.”