Distracted, impaired drivers pulled off Hwy. 417 in one afternoon
Posted Mar 19, 2026 11:43:20 AM.
Last Updated Mar 19, 2026 11:47:58 AM.
Police stopped a pair of drivers on the main highway through Ottawa and charged them with serious charges.
According to Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), impaired and distracted driving are among the top reasons why people die on provincial roadways every year. Data from Statistics Canada shows distraction accounts for 19.9 per cent of fatal collisions, along with speeding and impaired driving.
At around 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, an officer pulled over an SUV driver for speeding on Highway 417 near Eagleson Road.
Once at the side, the officer noticed open liquor in the vehicle and believed the driver could be under the influence. They used a roadside device, and the person was taken back to the detachment for further testing, where police confirmed alcohol and drugs in his system.
As a result, a 50-year-old man is facing charges of impaired operation (alcohol and drugs), driving with an open container of liquor and blood concentration 80 plus.
He received a 90-day driving suspension and a week-long vehicle impound. He’s set to appear in an Ottawa court at a later date.
Later, the same afternoon, around 4:00, OPP stopped a transport truck driver on Highway 417 near Parkdale Avenue.
The driver, according to police, was driving distracted and faces a $615 fine, three demerit points and a three-day driving suspension upon conviction.
“Distracted driving remains the number one cause of serious and fatal collisions in Ontario, over impaired driving,” police said in a release.
Fatal collisions on OPP-patrolled roads
Preliminary year-end data from 2025 shows that while the total number of collisions increased 4 per cent from 2024, the number of those involving impaired drivers dropped from 218 to 193.
But collisions don’t always tell the whole story. Police previously said that 854 people were charged with impaired driving in 2025 and 837 the year prior.
There were a total of 23 fatal collisions in 2025, up from 18 in 2024. There were an additional 1,320 non-fatal injuries last year, also up from the year prior.
