Santa was on hand at the Timmins Police Service Monday morning with an important message for motorists this holiday season: Don’t Drink and Drive.

The Timmins Police Service, Ontario Provincial Police, MADD Canada and Porcupine Health Unit are echoing this message for the holiday season as they kick off the 2018 Festive RIDE Campaign, a campaign that focuses on preventing drivers from getting behind the wheel while impaired.

The Festival RIDE season runs from November 23rd until January 2nd, and it’s during this busy time of year that officers will be present at local roadways and highways, monitoring drivers for impairment.

“We’ll be looking for impaired drivers throughout the day and night,” Dan Foy, OPP Staff Sergeant, explained. “We’ll be conducting RIDE checks in all our communities also. And we’re focusing on impaired driving by drug and […] by alcohol.”

OPP Officers and Timmins Police Officers are equipped and trained to look for indicators of impairment in drivers. Sometimes, the traffic stop of a suspicious vehicle can result in other arrests as well.

“We focus on other things other than alcohol and drugs,” Foy said. “We can come across stolen property. We can come across a number of other things related to criminal acts. And we take action when we can and pursue the criminals if they are caught in the act.”

The Timmins Police Service is equally committed to keeping roads in the area safe.

“[We] are committed to ensuring that our roads, highways and trail systems are safe,” said Tom Chyphya of the Timmins Police Service, “And […] we will aggressively target those individuals that choose to drive impaired by either alcohol or drugs.”

 

Timmins Police members have conducted two RIDE checks already and, starting next week, the full program will be in effect. In the past, the TPS has focused their resources on later hours and weekends to catch impaired drivers. This year, however, the times police expect to see impaired drivers on the roads have changed.

“We found, through some of our statistics,” Chyphya said, “that we’re encountering impaired drivers during the week, during dinner hours. So we’ve changed […] the way we do our RIDE initiatives, more so during the early evening hours. We still do them at night, but we tend to focus on the afternoons and during the early evening hours.”

 

Areas with a high volume of pedestrians and vehicle traffic and chosen for the RIDE initiative. This will include two platoons working around the city of Timmins on Christmas Day.

“We know they’re out there,” Chyphya said, “and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure our roads and trail systems and highways are safe.”

Chyphya reminds the public that if they suspect they see a vehicle with an impaired driver behind the wheel, to call   9-1-1 and the TPS will investigate.

MADD Canada is also encouraging citizens to call 9-1-1 if they see someone behind the wheel that they suspect is driving impaired. And as Amy St. Amour, Communications Coordinator from the Timmins Chapter of MADD Canada, says, the new cannabis legalization hasn’t changed how MADD handles impaired drivers.

“We recognize that driving impaired includes driving either impaired by alcohol or by drug. That can be cannabis, that can be an opioid, it can be a prescription; it can be anything. So our message this year has changed to “No alcohol, no drugs, no victims.”

The Festive RIDE kickoff is also promoting the MADD Campaign 9-1-1, now in its 11th year. This program incorporates, not only the volunteers and community partners, but the community as a whole.

“This holiday season,” St. Amour said, “We ask that community members keep their eyes peeled for a possibly impaired driver.”

This could include someone swerving in and out of traffic, missing a stop sign or traffic signals, driving erratically, turning suddenly or making a sudden stop. Citizens who see any driving activity like this are encouraged to call 9-1-1 so MADD can report the incident to police and they can initiate a traffic stop.

There are many ways to avoid driving impaired this holiday season. Stephanie Gravel, a public health nurse at the Porcupine Health Unit, explains that there are lots of options for getting home if you’re anything but sober.

“If you are going to have any alcohol during the festive season, […] plan ahead,” Gravel said. “Make sure you have a ride home; friend, family member. If you can’t get any rides, public transportation, taxis. And definitely, if all else fails, grab a hotel room, stay the night. And make sure you get home safe.”

Gravel says women should have no more than 10 drinks a week, or 2 in one sitting to avoid being impaired. Men should have no more than 15 drinks a week and no more than 3 in one sitting.

The Timmins Police Festive RIDE Campaign has officially launched and will be running until January 2nd. If you suspect someone is driving while impaired, either by drugs or alcohol, call the Timmins Police Service at 705 264 1201, or call 9-1-1.

 

Filed under: Local News