Only one driver was charged with impaired driving during the New Year’s RIDE program in this city.
Police officials, in a news release revealing the RIDE program statistics Thursday, said it was relatively quiet at the checkpoints, likely because of the cold temperatures.
The RIDE program on New Year’s Eve led to nine drivers being tested for drinking and driving offences, with one driver being charged with impaired driving and failing to provide a breath sample.
Twenty other people were charged with offences ranging from having open liquor in a vehicle to driving while under suspension. One vehicle was towed and impounded for the suspended driver.
“There is an old police saying to the effect that the weather is always your best policeman,” read a news release issued by the Thunder Bay Police Service. “That adage was certainly true this year, with one of the coldest New Years Eve in recent memory. Overall, it was a noticeably quiet night, save for the cold weather type issues.”
The officers from the RIDE detail were reassigned by the Watch Commander shortly after 2 a.m. to meet demand calls pertaining to the safety of people out in the extreme cold.
There were only a ten collisions during the overnight hours - none with injuries reported. New Years Day saw a total of twelve collisions in total, two with injury, neither are believed to be serious.
City police are expected to release the data for the Festive RIDE and other impaired driving statistics early next week.
