Northeastern Ont. police lay 139 impaired driving charges in six weeks

Efforts to reduce impaired driving in northeastern Ontario appear to be working in some communities, but are still high as provincial police release results of their Holiday season sobriety checks.

Efforts to reduce impaired driving in northeastern Ontario appear to be working in some communities, but are still high as provincial police release results of their Holiday season sobriety checks.

Between Nov. 21 and Jan. 1, a dozen OPP detachments in the northeast region conducted more than 1,500 roadside checks.

A total of 139 impaired driving charges were laid in that six-week period, a decrease of 14 per cent compared to the previous season.

The penalty for having a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more is an immediate 90-day driver's licence suspension, $550 fine and the vehicle is impounded for one week.

The same penalty applies to all drivers who fail or refuse to comply with a demand for alcohol or drug testing or who perform poorly during a drug recognition expert evaluation.

If convicted, drivers face a licence suspension of at least one year, mandatory education or treatment program and must use an ignition interlock device for at least a year.