'We need to stop this': WPS, RCMP stepping up enforcement to target impaired drivers

Police stop vehicles on the westbound exit ramp onto the Perimeter Highway on Dec. 2, 2022 as part of National Impaired Driving Enforcement Day. (Source: Jamie Dowsett/CTV News Winnipeg)

Manitoba RCMP and Winnipeg Police Service are teaming up to step up enforcement to catch impaired drivers on roadways.

The joint forces initiative is to mark National Impaired Driving Enforcement Day.

Officers with both the RCMP and the WPS will be targeting impaired drivers at different locations in and around Winnipeg, while Mounties will be doing further enforcement in rural Manitoba.

RCMP Inspector Joe Telus says in RCMP jurisdictions, 1,396 impaired drivers have been taken off the road so far this year.

“It's time to realize this is not about people being uneducated as to the risk. It is about people making choices, and some people are still making poor, poor ones,” he said.

The Winnipeg Police Service said it is also launching and operating its annual check stop program during December.

Inspector Doug Roxburgh, commander of the WPS central traffic division, said the 2021 check stop program revealed some ‘troubling numbers,’ with an average blood alcohol concentration that was double the legal limit.

“Our highest was 330 milligrams per cent. To put it in perspective, 350 milligrams per cent, we hospitalize people. It's problematic,” he said.

The average age of impaired drivers caught by WPS last year was 40. The youngest was 18, and the oldest was 66.

Roxburgh said 86 per cent of impaired drivers were male.

His division has seen some concerning numbers in 2022, as well, with an increase in serious or fatal collisions. The inspector noted they are investigating up to 40 collisions currently, resulting in 24 deaths.

“We need to stop this. We want everyone to have a safe holiday season,” he said.