The head of the local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving believes its time to increase fines and penalties for those who get behind the wheel under the influence.
The comments comes after Essex County OPP laid 17 impaired driving charges during the annual Festive RIDE campaign.
MADD community leader Chaouki Hamka says one charge is too many and it appears drivers just aren't getting the message.
He says the justice system needs to step up with harsher punishments.
"The reality of it is this is what's happening in our country and until the criminal justice system steps up and does something about this, unfortunately, we may still see some of those numbers," he continued "So every hour in Canada, an average of 10 federal criminal charges are laid for alcohol or drug impaired driving."
Hamka says Canada is lagging behind when it comes to drunk driving laws.
"In Canada, we're definitely behind in laws. We need to have effective laws. Whatever it may be, it needs to be something that will scare people and deter people not to ever get behind the wheel impaired."
He says he'd like to see impaired drivers hit in the pocketbook with heftier fines.
"The biggest thing I find in society is when it hits your wallet, people tend to think a lot more right? It's always about the money. The penalties are there. The fines are there. Maybe we need to increase the fines from hundreds to thousands. Something definitely has to be done," he stated.
In total, 74 RIDE events were carried out across Essex County over the campaign between November 18 and January 2 handing out 17 charges and 10 warnings.
Across the province, OPP officers charged 655 drivers with impaired driving.
The OPP also reports it received more than 3,000 calls from the public to report suspected impaired drivers.