'We need to stop this': WPS, RCMP stepping up enforcement to target impaired drivers
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.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.