There were fewer impaired driving charges laid by city police during the Festive RIDE program.
Police tell us there were 12 charges laid during the 2020 initiative compared to 27 in 2019.
This is the first year police decided to make public the names of those who were charged, but Constable Mark Cattani does not know if that was a factor.
“It is too soon to tell…conclusively if the naming initiative had a real effect on the number of impaired drivers,” says Cattani.
However, the city police officer says the force does see value in the idea and will continue the practice of publicly naming those charged with impaired driving.
Meantime despite this drop in the Festive RIDE numbers, the total number of impaired driving charges in 2020 totalled 299, higher than the 204 reported in 2021.
