Calgary police issue nine impairment sanctions in December checkstops

Drinking and driving trending down, stats suggest The Calgary Police Service wrapped up its holiday checkstop campaign, and results show drinking and driving is trending downward.

Calgary police say more than 1,500 drivers were checked for impairment through checkstops last month.

Police held checkstops at six locations on five dates in December.

The Calgary Police Service says a total of nine impaired sanctions were issued – three warnings, three fails, two novice drivers and one 24-hour sanction.

"We are happy to report that no impaired drivers were encountered during the checkstop on New Year’s Eve," police said in a statement.

"The motorists we encountered were utilizing ride sharing and designated drivers to get them safely around."

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is pleased to hear about the results.

“Makes me feel happy,” said Aaron Libby, Calgary and area MADD chapter president.

“When we did checkstops eight, nine years ago, we would have convoys of tow trucks coming in, type of thing. So it's down quite a bit, which makes us feel great.”

Libby knows the dangers of drinking and driving all too well. In 2013, he was on his way home to Strathmore when his vehicle was hit by another vehicle head-on.

The driver was impaired, and Libby suffered skull and neck fractures, brain trauma, collapsed lungs, broken ribs and other life-altering injuries. He still has trouble walking, deals with chronic pain and has PTSD while driving.

“More work still needs to be done,” said Libby.

Alberta transitioned to new impaired driving rules on Dec. 1, 2020, which changed how impaired drivers are penalized.

Since then, drivers have been subject to the Immediate Roadside Sanctions (IRS) program, which sees most dealt with by way of sanction.

In Ontario, as of Jan. 1, impaired driving causing death now carries a lifetime driving suspension.

But Mount Royal University criminal justice professor Doug King isn’t convinced that’s the answer to get drunk drivers off the road.

“I think any time you get these kinds of what would be considered to be quite, quite harsh measures, there were court challenges,” said King.

“It will be interesting to see if that catches on across Canada,” said King. “The number of deaths by impaired operation across Canada is about 90 a year.”

For King, he would like to see more victims and those who were driving under the influence connect over victim impact panels. King says this is a measure used by MADD in the United States.

“Victims who have lost loved ones in impaired operation actually meet the individuals that caused the death of their loved ones,” said King.

“Those restorative measures often have much more of an impact than a simple kind of sanction by a government. So, we've got a lot of room to try new things.”

Calgary police say there were 1,689 impaired driving contraventions between Jan. 1 to Sept. 1, 2024 – the most recent statistics available.

In Lethbridge, police said the annual Christmas checkstop campaign saw 10 impaired drivers removed from the roads.