Impaired driving incidents in Thunder Bay remain far above provincial rate

Impaired driving continues to be a major problem on Thunder Bay roadways, with the city's rate of impaired driving incidents surpassing that of Ontario in 2021.

According to the Thunder Bay police 2021 annual report, there were 211 impaired driving incidents in the city that year, for a rate of about 180 per 100,000 people.

Ontario-wide, there were just over 16,330 impaired driving incidents in 2021, a rate of about 110 per 100,000 people.

It's at least the fifth consecutive year that Thunder Bay has surpassed the provincial rate.

"I think, unfortunately, this problem, much like many of our other ones, is not really going away," Thunder Bay police acting traffic Sgt. Tom Armstrong said Thursday. "It's something that, despite our best efforts at education and enforcement, it is still continuing to be a problem numbers-wise."

"I really don't know what the answer is," he said. "We're trying to be very proactive with enforcement. We're trying every different kind of campaign we can do. I don't know how many times we can tell people to make better decisions, to plan ahead."

Armstrong said police in Thunder Bay encounter impaired drivers at all hours of the day, seven days a week.

"It's not uncommon to have an impaired driver early on a Tuesday morning, or on a Friday night, or midday on a Thursday," he said.

While Armstrong said recent news about this year's cancellation of Project Red Nose — a program that gives people who've been drinking during the holidays a safe ride home — was "unfortunate," he hoped people wouldn't use that as an excuse to drink and drive.

"There's still plenty of other options," he said.

Impaired driving was a factor in 74 reported motor vehicle collisions that took place in Thunder Bay in 2021, the report states.