Week three of Durham RIDE Program continues trend of more charges with fewer stops

The third week of the Durham Police Festive RIDE program has continued the trend of more charges amongst fewer stops than 2020.

Cruisers were at seven locations in Ajax, Clarington, Pickering, Whitby, Oshawa, Port Perry and Uxbridge for ride checks over the last week, stopping 1,403 drivers, down from 1,833 in the same period last year. They administered 27 breathalyzer tests, a jump from the 17 administered in 2020.

Those tests found 16 people were driving impaired resulting in charges. Ten were charged in 2020’s week three. However, warn ratings decreased from four to two.

There was also a jump in criminal code charges to four from just one last year but highway traffic act charges plummeted from 95 last year to just 27 in 2021.

In total police charged 35 drivers with impaired driving charges, a significant jump from the 24 drivers charged last year, despite fewer stops. Five drivers blew a warning, which remains the same as last year.

Of those charged, 29 are from Durham Region, two are from Scarborough, one is from Toronto ,one is from Alberta, one is from Etobicoke,  and one is from Liverpool, UK. A full list of charged drivers is on the DRPS website.

Anyone charged with drinking and driving automatically has their driver’s license suspended for 90 days and their vehicle impounded for seven days.