The head of Mothers Against Drunk Driving Windsor and Essex County believes 'we need effective laws, not stricter penalties,' to deter people from impaired driving.
Chaouki Hamka told AM800's The Dan MacDonald Show that it's concerning to see so many people in our region driving under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or both.
Ontario Provincial Police report 880 charges have been laid in the West Region in the first six months of this year, the most out of all the OPP-patrolled regions.
Essex County, which is part of the West Region, has the most impaired driving charges in the patrol region, with 117 between January and June 2025, slightly above the 115 recorded during the same time last year.
Hamka says the education and awareness are out there, and police are out there tackling impaired driving every single day.
"You know it's choices that people make because we know it's illegal, we know it's dangerous, but people continue to make those decisions for whatever is going on in their mind at that time," he says. "We know when you're impaired by alcohol and/or drugs, you don't make the best decisions."
Hamka says he doesn't think it's about stricter penalties.
"We need effective laws. Laws that will deter people from driving impaired. Unfortunately, we're at a time in 2025 where you would have thought we would have effective laws, but we don't," he says. "People continue to do it because they're not scared. They know they're going to get a slap on the wrist the majority of the time."
OPP also reports that the number of impaired driving charges is up 40 per cent over the five-year average in Essex County.
Hamka says they encourage the public to call 911 if they see a suspected impaired driver.
"You're not doing anyone a disservice by calling 911. You're not ruining someone's life; you're protecting someone's life. If that person gets pulled over and arrested, yes, it sucks. They're going to be charged, and they're going to have lots of lawyer's fees. It's a shame. It's a shameful act, but at the end of the day they're alive. They didn't hurt anybody. That's important and what we really have to understand," he says.
MADD launched Campaign 911 in 2019, posting signs across Windsor-Essex to encourage people to call 911 if they spot an impaired driver.
OPP Essex County includes the communities of Essex, Lakeshore, Tecumseh, Kingsville, and Leamington.