Thunder Bay police charge 13 with impaired driving during Festive RIDE checks

Impaired driving remains a major problem in Thunder Bay, with 13 people charged during Festive RIDE checks, police said.

Thunder Bay police conducted 12 RIDE checks during the holiday season at various locations in the city.

And despite reduced traffic volume due to the COVID-19 pandemic, police charged eight people for driving while impaired by alcohol, and three people who were impaired by drugs.

Two others were charged with refusing to provide a breath sample, police said.

"The messaging has been out there forever through police services, through MADD Canada, through different organizations," Thunder Bay police Const. Tom Armstrong said. "It's still a problem that's staying the same or getting worse."

"I don't know what the answer is," he said. "People need to kind of understand the severity of it, and the possible ramifications of what they're doing."

"But I don't know how we change people's minds. A large majority of people are making responsible choices, but unfortunately there's those out there that that just don't seem to get it, or don't care or whatever the problem is."

An additional 13 people were given driver's licence suspensions for being in the "warn" range: having a blood alcohol content between 50 mg and 80 mg, police said.

Another concern during Festive RIDE, Armstrong said, was the number of young or novice drivers — those with G1 or G2 licences, or under the age of 22 — found with alcohol in their system.

"We saw a significant number of them that that had alcohol of varying concentrations in their blood," he said. "That's another real issue."

"People need to understand that if you're a novice or young driver, you have to be at zero," Armstrong said. "That can result in charges and suspensions as well."

Police also laid a number of other charges during Festive RIDE checks, including driving while suspended or without insurance, driving with cannabis readily available or with an open alcohol container, and failing to move over for emergency vehicles.

Overall, police charged 252 people with impaired driving-related offences over the course of 2021.

That's down from 299 in 2020, but up from 2018 (178 charges) and 2019 (204 charges).

North West OPP charge 76

In the region, OPP charged 76 people with impaired driving during the Festive RIDE season, and suspended five drivers who were in the warn range.

That's up from 52 people charged during the 2019 Festive RIDE, and 46 in 2020, said Staff Sgt. Cheryl Davidson, North West OPP regional traffic manager.

Davidson said mandatory screening is contributing to the number of charges being laid.

"We are authorized to use an approved screening device to demand a roadside breath sample from a lawfully stopped driver," she said, adding that has come into effect in the last couple of years.

"Someone that came through a RIDE program at one point, that was asked if they had consumed any alcohol or drugs and was not showing any signs of impairment, may have been sent on their way," Davidson said. "Now, we have the ability to stop those vehicles and test everyone that drives through a ride program."

"Certainly, that could be the reason for the increased numbers."

OPP said there were more than 1,500 RIDE checks held in the northwest during the holidays, more than double the number held during the previous Festive RIDE program.

"Our officers within the OPP are certainly very committed, as we can see by the numbers and the increased number of RIDEs that we've had, especially this year," Davidson said. "We hope that we will continue to have success with the program in the future."

The overall number of impaired driving charges laid by northwestern Ontario OPP in 2021 wasn't available on Friday.