The 2019 numbers are in and Saskatchewan has the lowest number of impaired driving fatalities and injuries on record in the province.

Saskatchewan Government Insurance says their preliminary numbers indicate that 21 people lost their lives last year as a result of impaired driving collisions. That’s compared to an average of 54 between 2009 and 2019.

Injuries are also trending downward. There were 332 reported in 2019 compared with the annual average of 595 during the previous decade.

Minister Responsible Joe Hargrave credits the downward trend to several factors and gave particular credit to families of impaired driving victims who share their very personal stories.

Linda Van de Vorst lost her son, daughter-in-law and two young grandchildren just north of Saskatoon in 2016 and says no one should ever have to experience the pain of losing a loved one to something as senseless and unnecessary as impaired driving.