To improve safety on Alberta’s highways, Sheriff and RCMP integrated traffic units cracked down on unsafe drivers over the August long weekend.
Between Friday, July 29, and Monday, August 1, traffic officers laid 3,290 charges across the province including:
35 hazardous driving violations, such as careless driving and stunting;
2,513 speeding violations;
43 impaired driving charges, 101 other alcohol-related violations and 54 24-hour suspensions for alcohol or drug use;
84 failing to stop at a stop sign infractions;
139 seatbelt or child restraint infractions; and
321 violations ranging from having no insurance to driving while suspended.
RCMP and Sheriff integrated traffic units and their road safety partners are making Alberta’s highways safer by focusing on the four most dangerous driving activities: impaired driving; not using seatbelts; speeding; and proceeding unsafely through intersections.
During August, RCMP and Sheriffs and their road safety partners are focusing on impaired drivers. Statistics show August has a consistently high number of alcohol-related traffic deaths, and drivers in fatal collisions are four times more likely to be impaired or have consumed alcohol than drivers in non-fatal collisions. In 2010, 4.7 per cent of drivers in injury collisions, and 21.8 per cent of drivers involved in fatal collisions had been drinking or were impaired.
