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(file photo/battlefordsNOW staff)
impaired driving week

National Impaired Driving week includes education, and stop checks

May 13, 2019 | 12:00 PM

Along with National Police Week, another integral push for Saskatchewan RCMP has already begun.

National Impaired Driving Week started yesterday, and will run until next Monday. There will be a variety of impaired driving enforcement initiatives during the week, which is in line with all the other police forces across the country. There will be educational components, as well as check stops for not only finding drunk drivers, but drivers impaired by both legal and illegal drugs.

Battlefords RCMP Staff Sgt. Darcy Woolfitt said this issue needs to be addressed immediately, and that it’s all about getting the word out there.

“We’re trying to raise people’s knowledge level, and awareness (levels),” he said. “The province has done a great job (in doing this), and we’re doing our part here.”

When it comes to impaired driving, everyone has a role in deterring the situations surrounding the problem. Woolfitt said from friends planning a safe ride home, the bartenders and bar staff serving, right down to the impaired person themselves, it’s all about getting people home safe, and not behind the wheel of a vehicle.

“We have to bring the rates of impaired driving down in this province. We deal with tragedies every week that affect families around the province with the impacts of the impaired drivers,” he said.

The Battlefords Detachment also has the Drager DrugTest 5000, which will test for cannabis impairment, along with breathalyzers at the check stops to ensure everyone behind the wheel is legal to do so.

brady.lang@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @BradyLangBFN

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