THUNDER BAY – City police have nabbed 18 impaired drivers through the first two weeks of July, bringing their year-to-date total to nearly 100.
The Thunder Bay Police Service reported that 75 drivers had been charged with impaired driving or driving with more than 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood from the start of January through the end of June.
Yet through only the first two weeks, July had the highest number of people charged of any month so far this year with 18. The fewest occurred in March, when 10 drivers were apprehended.
The numbers are not encouraging, Const. Mark Cattani said in a news release.
Of the drivers charged, police have found that 77 per cent of them are male. While the average age is 37, they range from 16 to 77 years old.
Police have charged at least one person during every hour of the day, with 13 of those happening between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. More than half of the case occurred on weekends.
The highest blood alcohol content detected was 397 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, which is nearly five times the legal limit.
Four of the cases involved drivers being impaired by drugs.
“With the coming legalization of cannabis, there is the expectation that drug-impaired driving will increase in Thunder Bay,” Cattani said.
“With better drug-detection training for officers and more awareness of geographic and demographic patterns, the police are hopeful that they will be will be able to reduce the incidence of impaired driving in the second half of 2018. At the very least, they will ensure that those caught driving while impaired are charged and brought before the courts.”
City police jurisdiction does not include provincial highways, which are policed by the OPP.
