The RCMP in New Brunswick is conducting traffic stops as a part of National Impaired Driving Enforcement Day on Saturday. The day has been selected by police forces across Canada to check for impaired driving.
In 2016, New Brunswick investigated 58 collisions resulting in 64 fatalities. RCMP says 29 per cent of those crashes involved the use of alcohol or drugs.
"The New Brunswick government recently passed new legislation that now permits police to issue immediate driver's licence suspensions," says Cpl. Ryan Lewis of the Tactical Traffic Enforcement Unit. "Since the law was passed on November 1, 2017, the RCMP have issued 49 driver's licence suspensions and also impounded more than 24 vehicles".
RCMP says the legislation allows police to suspend a driver's licence immediately for seven days if the driver has a blood alcohol content of .05 per cent milligrams or higher. According to RCMP, the length of the suspension increases with each subsequent suspension.
This comes at a time when police in Prince Edward Island are reporting a series of arrests of drunk drivers in the past week. Officers from the East Prince RCMP arrested a female driver on the Confederation Bridge after she struck a police car last weekend.
A Summerside man was also arrested in Hampton for impaired driving in Springhill after a call was placed by a concerned motorist. Police are reporting that alcohol levels were well over legal limits in both incidents.
Police in Nova Scotia are also launching a campaign called “Operation Christmas” to tackle the number of impaired drivers during the month of December. Officers say the campaign will include the Traffic Unit conducting checkpoints throughout the region.
Impaired driving is the number one cause of criminal death in Canada.
