THUNDER BAY — When it comes to trending numbers, city police want the number of alcohol and impaired drivers to go down. Instead, they are remaining steady.
Const. Tom Armstrong with Thunder Bay Police traffic unit said the start of this year's Festive RIDE program saw a slight increase in drivers behind the wheel under the influence.
"When we did the Festive RIDE launch on Nov. 29, we were up to 185 impaired driving incidents" so far in 2023, he said.
Comparing numbers to the same time last year, there were only 173 incidents, said Armstrong.
"In the last 15 days or so, I think we've had 10 more incidents of impaired driving."
By the end of last year's campaign, police say there were a total of 204 incidents.
Armstong expressed frustration with the lack of compliance from drivers to not drive intoxicated.
"It's become such an ever-present problem, and no matter what education or punitive measures, there are people who don't seem to get it, and we're kind of just at a loss here."
The officer noted it's approximately a 60/40 split towards alcohol when it comes to drivers getting behind the wheel who are drug-impaired as well.
"We've got a large percentage of our frontline officers trained in standard field sobriety test, officers who are far more trained to detect drug and alcohol-impaired driving. We're stepping up our drug recognition expert program."
He called drug-impaired driving a growing problem that police continue to try to keep up with.
"We're making efforts to become better at detecting it. We're going to see that number continue to rise."
Armstrong is asking drivers outright not to drink and drive.
"[If] you decide to drink and drive and in that, you think you're good, you think you didn't have too many, and you kill somebody? Talk about life-altering,"
He continued, "The impact that has on you, on that person, on their family, on the community as a whole. Think about that."
For the 2022 Festive RIDE campaign, there were a total of 204 incidents. For 2023, starting in January to approximately mid-December, there have been 195 incidents with just over two weeks to go until the new year.
