R.I.D.E. safely this holiday season

Durham police will once again be hitting the streets this holiday season to keep impaired drivers off the road.

The 2016 edition of the Festive R.I.D.E. campaign, like years past, will work to keep the roads safe and dangerous drivers off of them. Last year, 118 impaired drivers were arrested and 129 licence suspensions were issued. Over the past five years, 610 impaired drivers have been taken off of Durham’s streets.

The campaign, which launched Nov. 17, will last until early January.

In fact, the first night of the campaign saw 730 vehicles stopped, with 22 people given roadside breath tests. In total, police issued three-day suspensions to 11 people, charged five with drinking and driving offences, nine with various Highway Traffic Act offences and two for drug offences.

Among the five people charged for drinking and driving offences was a 26-year-old Oshawa male who, police say, was driving a Dodge Caravan east on Taunton Road at Wilson Road when it went off the road, over a sidewalk and hit a post near a gas station.