SGI discovers 376 impaired drivers during safety spotlight last month

A traffic safety focus by Saskatchewan’s Crown insurance company has found some troubling numbers.

June’s spotlight was on young drivers and motorcyclists, but Tyler McMurchy of SGI said impaired driving numbers were found to be higher than acceptable.

McMurchy said there were 376 impaired driving violations and almost all of them were for exceeding the .08 blood alcohol level, failing a sobriety test or refusing to give a breathalyzer sample.

As for young drivers, 88 tickets were issued and, of those, 66 were for operating a vehicle with a learner’s permit without a supervising driver on board.

Young drivers also represented 10 per cent of drivers killed and 12 per cent of drivers seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents.

Among drivers generally, police issued almost 4,800 tickets for aggressive driving and speeding, 441 tickets for not restraining children properly and 436 tickets for distracted driving.

McMurchy said that many impaired driving violations in a single month is high and those numbers have to come down.

“Impaired driving is 100 per cent preventable and there’s absolutely no good reason to get behind the wheel of a car if you have been drinking or you are impaired by any kind of drug,” he said Monday.