103 motorists charged with impaired driving over holiday period
Posted Jan 1, 2025 01:30:16 PM.
Last Updated Jan 4, 2025 11:27:19 AM.
The fifth week OPP’s East Region Festive RIDE campaign has led to another 20 arrests for impaired driving.
This brings the total of motorists charged with impaired driving since the initiative began on Nov. 21, 2024, to 103.
Week one led to the most arrests with 23 drivers being charged. Week two led to 22 arrests, 20 in week three and 18 in week four.
“The OPP encourages everyone to celebrate the arrival of 2025 safely,” Chief Superintendent Lisa Wilhelm, Commander of OPP East Region, said in a press release. “Impaired driving can instantly change a celebration into a tragedy.”
Over 1,100 Festive RIDE program checks have been conducted across eastern Ontario, stopping vehicles to ensure drivers are not impaired by drugs or alcohol. Across the entire province, that number is 9,265.
The Festive RIDE campaign is an annual initiative led by the Ontario Association of Police Chiefs designed to keep impaired drivers off the road.
The 103 arrests made in the east region make up just 14 per cent of the 743 impaired driving charges handed down across the province between November 21, 2024 and January 1, 2025.
It is an initiative that has been emphasized by the OPP’s 2023 Annual Report which showed that impaired driving charges are on the rise; up 17 per cent since 2021.
In addition to the impaired driving arrests, officers also issued a total of 29 license suspensions and vehicle impoundments.
As the holiday period comes to a close, OPP is reminding Ontarians that RIDE programs can happen anywhere, anytime. If you suspect someone is driving impaired, call 9-1-1.
