Setting up a RIDE checkpoint proved useful for the Ontario Provincial Police of the Nipissing West (West Nipissing) detachment.
OPP reports that on November 16, at 8:59 p.m., detachment officers along with Sudbury Traffic Incident Management Enforcement (T.I.M.E.) Team members were conducting a RIDE program on Highway 17, Sudbury.
Officers reported that a vehicle was observed entering the checkpoint and police determined the driver was impaired. The driver was arrested and transported to the Sudbury OPP Detachment for further testing, said a police news release.
As a result of the investigation, a 38-year-old man from Chelmsford, was charged with two counts of Operation while impaired.
Police said the accused was released on an Appearance Notice and is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice on December 14, 2022, in Sudbury
In addition, the driver was issued a 90-day Administrative Driver's License Suspension and the vehicle was impounded for seven days.
The OPP reminds drivers that the annual seven-week RIDE campaign, led by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, is now on across the province. OPP said in a news release that police will use every available method to detect and stop drivers impaired by alcohol or other drugs and to keep them off the road
One police tool that drivers should be particularly mindful of is Mandatory Alcohol Screening (MAS), said the release. MAS allows a police officer to demand a breath test from any lawfully stopped driver (which includes those pulled over in Festive R.I.D.E. stops), even if there is no evidence or suspicion that the driver has consumed alcohol.
Drivers are reminded that Drug Recognition Evaluation (DRE) and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST) officers remain effective police resources for detecting drug-impaired drivers and that the same penalties apply as those who are alcohol-impaired.
