Impaired driving statistics

While many Calgarians continue to make the right choice when it comes to drinking and driving, not everyone is taking the message to heart.

 

Impaired driving charges laid by the Calgary Police Service remained relatively unchanged during the 2012 holiday season, when compared to previous years.

 

In December 2012, officers laid 99 charges for impaired driving over 80 mg and another 122 charges for impaired driving (alcohol). Thirty-nine charges were laid for failing/refusing to provide a sample. Sixty Immediate Roadside Sanctions were also issued for alcohol impairment.

 

“With the introduction of the new administrative penalties for impaired driving in 2012, there was a lot of discussion in the community about impaired driving and its consequences,” says Staff Sgt. Michael Watterston of the CPS Traffic Section. “We hope that level of awareness will continue, and that we’ll see charges and suspensions decline over the next year.”

 

The CPS remains the only police service in Canada to run a year-round Check Stop program. Approximately 23 per cent of December’s charges were laid during either daytime or evening Check Stops.

 

In 2012, there were 32 fatal collisions in Calgary, killing 34 people – 15 of those collisions involved alcohol. Year-end statistics, available below, show nearly a nine-per-cent drop in alcohol-related criminal charges and 10-per-cent drop in suspensions for impairment.