Drivers in Oshawa & Durham not getting the message: 16 charged with impaired in RIDE week one

Week one of Durham Regional Police’s Festive RIDE program is in the books and the results aren’t pretty, with 16 drivers charged with impaired driving offences.

That’s up 23 per cent from last year, something the department called “unacceptable.”

“We need to do better. Please always plan ahead for a sober ride home; use alternate forms of transportation and arrive alive.”

The RIDE team conducted checks throughout the region in the first week (November 16-22), stopping more than 2,600 vehicles. Sixty motorists were given roadside breath tests.

• 10 people received three-day suspensions for registering a ‘WARN’ (up from six last year)
• 1 novice driver (down from five) received a license suspension
• 16 drivers (up from 13) were charged with drinking and driving offences
• 22 people (up three) were charged with impaired/refuse/exceed offences
• 3 people (down from 24 last year) were charged with other criminal code offences
• 184 (from 204) were charged with other Highway Traffic Act offences
• 6 people were charged with drug offences (from zero in week one of 2023)

The first week of the DRPS 2024 Festive RIDE program saw the team working alongside community partners from the Durham Region chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).

MADD had several survivors and other personally impacted volunteers out to thank the majority of drivers for driving sober and remind everyone that “the impact of their choices can be long lasting. If you suspect an impaired driver please call 911.”

Under the Ontario Highway Traffic Act, anyone charged with a drinking and driving criminal offence will have their driver’s licence suspended for 90 days and their vehicle impounded automatically for seven days.