Across the province, 35 drivers were charged with impaired driving as part of an Alberta-wide CheckStop blitz — but only one person was charged in the Red Deer area.
RCMP Integrated Traffic Services Cpl. Al Nickolson said they had people out until 3 a.m. on Sunday checking for impaired drivers, but caught their only one just after midnight.
“It’s good to see the lower numbers,” said Nickolson. “In years past, you’d go out and people were quite intoxicated.
“This time there were lots of designated drivers, a service that would drive your car for you. It’s good to see people using these types of things.”
Another driver was “on the borderline” and received a three-day licence suspension and had their vehicle seized and towed.
There were CheckStop Saturday evening into Sunday morning, set up at three locations in the Red Deer area: in Innisfail, in Penhold and at the Word of Life Church on Hwy 2A.
Nickolson said the cold weather may have kept a lot of people indoors on Saturday night, reducing the number of vehicles on the road.
RCMP conducted 15 CheckStops in communities and on major roadways across the province over the weekend. In total, 13,929 vehicles were stopped.
“The officers who worked the CheckStops in the brutal cold Saturday night can take pride in knowing that their collective efforts took 70 impaired drivers off the road,” said Supt. Howard Eaton, officer-in-charge of K Division Traffic Services.
“Last weekend was unique in terms of the number of RCMP officers deployed at one time, but we will be out again this weekend and every weekend until we win the battle against impaired driving.”
While 35 drivers were charged with impaired driving throughout Alberta, another 31 drivers were issued roadside suspensions due to alcohol and four drivers were issued roadside suspensions due to drugs.
mcrawford@www.reddeeradvocate.com