By Michael Joel-Hansen

Police target driving offences over long weekend

Oct 9, 2018 | 5:00 PM

Over the long weekend people may have noticed more of a police presence on the road.

The increased enforcement was part of Operation Impact, which ran from Oct. 5 to 8. The operation targets drivers who may be driving impaired or committing other driving offenses.

Sgt. Terry Epp with the Prince Albert Police Service told paNOW, the increased enforcement generated results.

“Over Operation Impact in the city here, we processed two impaired drivers and issued 26 tickets relating to aggressive driving,” he said.

Tickets related to aggressive driving can include people driving while distracted, people who are speeding, or people in a vehicle not wearing their seat belts. Throughout the four days, police checked roughly 375 vehicles.

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Five members from the city police took part in the four-day blitz and were joined by two members from the RCMP. Besides law enforcement there were also between six and seven people from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) who were part of the effort.

“They (MADD) come out and we check for vehicles and driver sobriety … and then we give MADD members the opportunity to approach the driver and deliver their message, and they thank the public for driving safe and sober,” Epp said.

While the issue of impaired driving has featured prominently in Saskatchewan as of late, Epp added Operation Impact is overall an attempt to get drivers thinking about more than just one issue.

“The whole idea of this campaign is to make people aware about the dangers associated with dangerous or illegal driving behaviours,” he said.

Epp said one of the issue which has as well taken on more importance in recent times has been people using their cell phones while driving.

“We try and focus on that because it is the cause of some collisions along with other things,” he said.

Overall Epp said he felt the operation was a successful and productive one and added that local police are always happy to work with other groups on initiatives such as this.

“It always helps when we can team up with MADD and with the Mounties … it gives us a bigger presence out there,” he said.

MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: mjhskcdn