A pre-Christmas traffic blitz proved to be a success for police agencies across Saskatchewan and here in Estevan.
Twenty-five people were charged with impaired driving during a province-wide traffic blitz in mid-December. Five of those arrests were here in the Energy City by the Estevan Police Service.
Police agencies across the province, including rural and larger municipal services, CN Rail Police and the RCMP, participated in the Operation Overdrive two-day blitz.
"Once again we saw extensive media coverage leading up to the blitz, so it appears the province-wide approach is helping heighten public awareness of key traffic safety issues," said Andrew Cartmell, president and CEO of SGI. "However, even one impaired driving charge is too many and demonstrates the need for continued emphasis on the issue of impaired driving in our province."
Law enforcement checked more than 4,200 vehicles during the blitz and issued a total of 241 tickets. Results are as follows:
25 impaired driving charges
19 licence/roadside suspensions
21 prohibited driving fines
31 vehicles seized
11 Criminal Code arrests
7 drug charges
127 Traffic Safety Act charges for a variety of other offences
"I'd like to commend police agencies across the province for the excellent co-operation in carrying out this operation," said Chief Troy Hagen, president of the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police. "Several checkstop locations throughout the province were staffed by municipal and RCMP members, all working together to keep our roads safe from impaired drivers."
Operation Overdrive was the second province-wide co-ordinated traffic safety blitz in 2011. The first blitz, Operation HandsFree, took place in November and resulted in 207 drivers being fined for cellphone use while driving. A provincial blitz will be held each month targeting a key traffic safety issue.
