OPP charged 587 drivers across Ontario with impaired driving during its annual Festive Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere campaign from November 24- January 2.
An additional 366 drivers were issued a Warn Range Suspension and had their driver's licence suspended for having a blood alcohol concentration between .05 and .08.
That's still better than last year when the OPP charged 623 impaired drivers and issued 407 Warn Range Suspensions during the 2016-2017 Festive RIDE campaign.
Police say 44 lives were lost in alcohol/drug-related collisions on OPP-patrolled roads in 2017. Officers conducted more than 9,830 RIDE events throughout the province, surpassing the 7,343 RIDE events conducted over the previous season's campaign.
Over the holidays, OPP Drug Recognition Evaluators assisted with the tools and expertise to test for and detect drug impairment in drivers. Of the 587 drivers charged, 29 were charged with drug impairment.
