Ontario Provincial Police have wrapped up their festive "Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere" (RIDE) campaign for another year, and 2022 ended with a significant number of drivers in the West Region facing criminal charges.
There were 278 impaired driving charges issued, down slightly from the 280 last year
Officers handed out 49 warn-range suspensions, a three-day license suspension for first-time offenders accompanied by a $150 penalty, also down slightly from last year's total of 55.
The number of RIDE checkpoints was up in 2022, with 1904 compared to 1243.
The OPP detachments with the most impaired charges included Middlesex with 43, Oxford with 43, and Essex with 29.
Over and above the charges, officers in Essex County also issued five Warn Range suspensions to drivers whose roadside breath tests registered a Blood Alcohol Concentration of between .05 and .08.
Chaouki Hamka, Community Leader for MADD Windsor & Essex County, says it's disappointing and disturbing to see the numbers relatively unchanged year over year.
"MADD as an organization has raised so much awareness, we have signage up, we work closely with the police services," he continued. "I'm not going to say I'm completely surprised, but it is devastating and upsetting that our region hasn't slowed down."
Hamka says while the ultimate goal is to one day eliminate impaired driving, they're hoping to see the numbers gradually come down over time as a result of people getting the message.
When stats like these are reported by police, he says it's clear that's not happening which is frustrating.
"At the end of the day, people really have to wake up and ask themselves if it's really worth making that decision. Potentially hurting myself, killing myself or injuring someone else, so it's definitely disturbing," he stated.
Hamka says people need to take it to heart and really understand the severe and detrimental consequences that impaired driving has in our society.
"I know for me being a part of MADD for the last 19 years in Windsor-Essex, we've done a lot here. It's my hope that people look at me, our organization, and the innocent lives out there and not make those decisions. Instead of adding to those statistics, maybe help us to get rid of impaired driving as a whole."
Essex County OPP conducted 153 RIDE events across the region from from November 16 to January 3.