The first long weekend of the summer brought with it a record number of impaired driving charges across the province. Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) issued 180 charges against drunk drivers from Friday, May 20 through Monday, May 23.
Officers handed out nearly twice as many charges compared to last year’s long weekend. Last year only 94 impaired driving charges were issued throughout Ontario.
Sgt. Kerry Schmidt could not provide an explanation for the significant increase this year, given that there were the same number of officers on patrol this year as there were last year. He stated that the beautiful weather could have drawn out larger crowds who enjoyed themselves in excess and made the poor decision to get behind the wheel after drinking.
The CEO of MADD Canada, stated that she had hoped the recent string of highly publicized and deadly drunk driving accidents that have been in the news over the last months would have driven home the dangers of drunk driving. Unfortunately, it seems as though it did not prevent many drivers from getting behind the wheel while impaired.
OPP also pulled 25 drivers off the roads for stunt driving and issued 16 dangerous driving charges over the weekend.
As a part of National Road Safety Week, which concluded on Monday, officers across the province were out in force looking for drivers not wearing their seat belts or driving distracted, among other infractions.
Drunk driving is an extremely dangerous action that can have devastating consequences for all motorists on the roads. Our barristers are experienced in helping victims and their families recover the maximum amount of compensation they deserve after these types of accidents. Contact our car accident lawyers today to learn more about your legal options if you have been injured or lost a loved one in a drunk driving accident.
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