Police kick off 2023 Festive RIDE campaign

Local law enforcement agencies will hit the streets over the next month in an effort to curb impaired driving in Sault Ste. Marie and area this holiday season. 

Members of Sault Ste. Marie Police Service, Ontario Provincial Police, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Anishinabek Police Service were checking vehicles on Bay Street Thursday to officially launch this year’s Festive Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (RIDE) campaign, which runs from now until the new year.   

During the 2022 Festive RIDE Campaign, Sault Police and partner agencies stopped and checked 1,290 vehicles within the jurisdiction of the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service. Those checks resulted in three criminal charges and four Highway Traffic Act charges.

“When I started 32 years ago we were doing RIDE then,” Sault Ste. Marie Police Service Traffic Sgt. Magnan told reporters during the campaign launch. “You have to keep doing it and [let the public] know that we’re out there — it could be any night, it could be anywhere.”

Magnan noted that it’s not all that uncommon for some RIDE checks to be conducted during the morning hours.     

“If they’re drunk at four in the morning, they’re probably still under the influence at six or seven in the morning when they’re heading to work,” he said. 

Impaired driving involving drug use has been on the rise, Magnan said, in addition to instances where drivers are impaired from a combination of drugs and alcohol. 

“You face a sanction as well — licence suspension, same charges,” Magnan said. 

Impaired drivers could face the suspension of their driver’s licence, vehicle impoundment, fines, and jail time. Meanwhile, certain drivers — those under the age of 22, drivers with a G1 or G2 licence, or commercial drivers — who are caught with any alcohol or cannabis in their system could face an automatic three-day licence suspension.

If a screening determines a motorist’s ability to drive is impaired by alcohol, drugs or a combination of alcohol and drugs (or if you refuse a breath or bodily substance screening demand), they are subject to an immediate 90-day driver’s licence suspension and seven-day vehicle impoundment.

Convicted drivers will face suspensions, heavy fines, vehicle impoundments, mandatory alcohol education and treatment programs, the ignition interlock program and potential increase to their insurance premiums.

“It’s definitely not worth it to risk it,” Magnan said. 

Police are reminding everyone to celebrate responsibly this holiday season.

“We urge everyone in our community to have a plan when attending holiday functions,” said Magnan in a media release for the RIDE campaign kickoff. “If you are celebrating in such a way that your ability to operate a vehicle will be impaired, arrange for a ride home by calling a friend, family member, taxi or ride sharing company to get home. DO NOT drink or use drugs and drive.”

The public is encouraged to call 911 with a description of the vehicle and licence plate number if they suspect an impaired driver on the road. The Highway Traffic Act allows drivers who are calling emergency services to use their cell phone while driving. 

“That’s one of the times you can actually use your cell phone when you are driving as an exemption, because you can’t use your cell phone when you’re driving in a motor vehicle — but you can if you’re calling 911 to report an impaired driver,” Magnan said.