(980 CJME file photo)

By Rob Mahon

Distracted Impaired Drivers

SGI sees more licence suspensions, distracted drivers in March

Apr 26, 2023 | 4:00 PM

SGI has released their latest numbers on impaired driving, which was the focus of their traffic safety spotlight for the month of March. In that month, Saskatchewan police reported 450 impaired driving offences.

Between 400 and 500 impaired driving offences in one month runs relatively average. Within that larger number, however, SGI noticed a new pattern emerging that they want to warn drivers about.

“What is kind of notable about this is the number of administrative suspensions for both experienced drivers and new drivers,” said SGI media relations manager Tyler McMurchy, “who violated the provincial limits but were not charged criminally.”

According to McMurchy, the criminal code charges were consistent with what SGI has seen over the last three years. But with 200 roadside suspensions, 170 of them among experienced drivers, this most recent March found an unfortunate way to stand out.

“The number of suspensions is substantially higher than what we’ve seen in the past,” McMurchy said. “That fits, because the focus we were highlighting in March was the consequences that come with violating those provincial levels of drugs and alcohol. We wanted to get across the message that even if you don’t get a .08 or you’re not charged criminally, there are still consequences that start before that.”

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If the same number of impaired drivers are being caught any given month, it could be frustrating to know the message isn’t sinking in. What’s more important to McMurchy and SGI, however, are incidents of impaired drivers causing crashes.

“The number of collisions, the number of injuries, the number of fatalities from impaired driving, that helps you see a bigger picture,” McMurchy said. “You have to take a long-term view of those, and over the long-term we’ve seen those numbers coming down substantially in Saskatchewan.”

Also of note from the most recent round of data from SGI is the number of distracted driving violations. There were 837 distracted driving tickets, 753 of which involved cellphones.

“We saw more distracted driving tickets than we’ve seen in the last three years,” McMurchy said. “That’s a persistent problem, to be sure, and it’s a very expensive problem for the person who receives that ticket because it’s a $580 ticket for your first offence.”

The Prince Albert Police Service reported 100 other traffic violations in March, an increase from 56 last year. They only reported six impaired driving violations or refusal to provide a breath sample, however.