Holiday Drunk Driving Statistics

[Rhettzky]

Shortly after the Christmas break Michael Platt (new Sun writer, at least I think he's new) wrote an article about how there was a severe shortage of check stops.

As 2007 gave way to 2008, Calgary had only one Checkstop unit nabbing boozy drivers -- that's nine officers and one solitary impaired trap for 750,000-plus vehicles.
It's a sobering truth, but if you drive drunk in Calgary on Dec. 31 or any other night, you likely won't be caught.

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/...48867-sun.html

So it was a bit of a shock to see that there was actually more charges laid this year than in the last two.

Here is a breakdown of the past three years...

Refusing a breathalyzer:
December 2007 - 12 charges
December 2006 - 10 charges
December 2005 - 9 charges

Drivers Charged:
December 2007 - 59
December 2006 - 50
December 2005 - 51

Licenses Suspended for 24 hours:
December 2007 - 155 licenses
December 2006 - 140 licenses
December 2005 - 80 licenses

Total Drivers Taken off the road (Charged + 24hr Suspension):
December 2007 - 214
December 2006 - 190
December 2005 - 131

http://www.gov.calgary.ab.ca/citybea...171056_14021_0

Now what is shocking about all of this is that in the last three years the amount of impaired drivers caught during the Holiday season has gone up over 60% despite only having one checkstop operational. I find this mind blowing because of the increase in punishments for impaired driving over the past 5-10 years. These people stand to gain a criminal record, lose their car, losing their driving priviledges, lose their job (if it requires driving) and spend thousands of dollars in fines and legal fee's. Not to mention that they are putting innocent people at risk as well as themselves and anyone in the car with them.

Sure cabs are hard to get in this city but is it really worth all the risk that some people are taking? Almost 40% of all Calgary traffic fatalities last year were caused by drunk drivers. I thought the penalties in place right now were extremely strict but maybe they aren't strict enough.

[jayswin]

An even scarier thought is how many people get away with it.

[DementedReality]

i know some will think this means the "system" is working (ie # of arrests are up), frankly I think it shows we are failing. we shouldnt have MORE people being caught, we should have LESS people making such a stupid choice.

if cabs are hard to get and you are some where that you cant walk home from, here is a simple yet fail safe tip. DONT DRINK! how hard is that?

[Resolute 14]

One thing that may be affecting the stats is that the checkstop unit didn't hit the main roads as much this xmas, but rather several popular side routes. The cops figured the drunks knew to stay off of MacLeod, so set up on Elbow, as an example. The stats don't necessarily mean that there are more drunks (relative to population), but possibly that the cops outsmarted more of them this time.

[llama64]

Don't you lose your licence if you get caught driving under the influence?

How soon can you get it back?

[Rhettzky]

Originally Posted by llama64

Don't you lose your licence if you get caught driving under the influence?

How soon can you get it back?

Right after you are charged you get a paper license for one month. After that you are under suspension for 3 months (mandatory). If you are found guilty you lose it for one full year. I'm not too sure what they do if you are caught again but I think it's up to the judge.

[llama64]

I wonder what the conviction rate is so we can keep these idiots off the road for a year...

[JD]

Originally Posted by llama64

Don't you lose your licence if you get caught driving under the influence?

How soon can you get it back?

If you're charged, you lose it for 3 months whether you're found guilty or not. If you plead guilty at court, this three months can be used towards your sentence. First time offenders convicted in court are given a year suspension. In most cases, the 9 latter months can be done by driving with an interlock device on your car.

You'll see that the police hand out a lot of those 24 hour suspensions. In those cases no further action is taken. The person can go pick up their license from the police station once the 24 hour period is complete.

[Table 5]

Amazing. I still can't believe that after all this time, there are still selfish idiots out there who do this kind of thing. It really does blow my mind...there is absolutely no excuse.

[Rhettzky]

Originally Posted by JD

If you're charged, you lose it for 3 months whether you're found guilty or not. If you plead guilty at court, this three months can be used towards your sentence. First time offenders convicted in court are given a year suspension. In most cases, the 9 latter months can be done by driving with an interlock device on your car.

You'll see that the police hand out a lot of those 24 hour suspensions. In those cases no further action is taken. The person can go pick up their license from the police station once the 24 hour period is complete.

Actually the automatic 3 month suspension cannot be used towards your sentence unless you plead guilty before the automatic suspension is over.

"Drivers charged with impaired driving in Alberta may receive a temporary driving permit valid for 21 days. Following the expiry of this permit, the province of Alberta will impose an automatic 3 month driving suspension, to commence regardless of whether the charge results in a conviction. A conviction for impaired driving will result in a further and separate minimum 12 month driving prohibition, therefore the province's automatic licence suspension may encourage those charged with impaired driving to deal with their court matters in a timely fashion rather than delaying the proceedings in the courts over a longer period of time (with an early guilty plea the 3 month automatic administrative suspension can overlap concurrently with the 12 month suspension resulting in a total suspension of 12 months, but if a guilty plea is delayed or the matter is unsuccessful at trial the driver could suffer a minimum of 15 months of suspension - the automatic 3 month suspension served separately prior to the additional minimum 12 month suspension imposed on conviction)."

http://www.calgarycriminallawyer.com...edDriving.html

[Russic]

Originally Posted by JD

If you're charged, you lose it for 3 months whether you're found guilty or not. If you plead guilty at court, this three months can be used towards your sentence. First time offenders convicted in court are given a year suspension. In most cases, the 9 latter months can be done by driving with an interlock device on your car.

You'll see that the police hand out a lot of those 24 hour suspensions. In those cases no further action is taken. The person can go pick up their license from the police station once the 24 hour period is complete.

I've seen that before and it enrages me to no end.

[moon]

Originally Posted by Rhettzky

I thought the penalties in place right now were extremely strict but maybe they aren't strict enough.

I think it has a lot more to do with people thinking that they won't get caught or that they aren't too drunk to drive. I don't think that many people are thinking "I'll drive because the penalty isn't too bad."

Maybe if it were really harsh then people might take more precautions beforehand, but really once you are drunk I think your judgement is often so impaired that you think about losing your license for one year.

The only way that I see DD decreasing is if police up the risk of getting caught, but from what I have seen from a few places in NA that doesn't seem to be likely to happen.

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by Rhettzky

So it was a bit of a shock to see that there was actually more charges laid this year than in the last two.

Here is a breakdown of the past three years...

Refusing a breathalyzer:
December 2007 - 12 charges
December 2006 - 10 charges
December 2005 - 9 charges

Drivers Charged:
December 2007 - 59
December 2006 - 50
December 2005 - 51

Licenses Suspended for 24 hours:
December 2007 - 155 licenses
December 2006 - 140 licenses
December 2005 - 80 licenses

Total Drivers Taken off the road (Charged + 24hr Suspension):
December 2007 - 214
December 2006 - 190
December 2005 - 131

http://www.gov.calgary.ab.ca/citybea...171056_14021_0

It's very unfortunate that it doesn't list how many drivers were tested / interviewed. For all we know, it could have been 131/200, 190/400, 214/600 (ie: percentages of those tested going down).

It is very unfortunate that people still aren't getting the message though. Drinking and driving is not an acceptable behavior. There are always options - just have to think about it and act on it.

[Locke]

I thought the crazier thing that was mentioned was other major Canadian cities only have checkstops over the holiday months.

[maverickeastwood]

Originally Posted by Locke

I thought the crazier thing that was mentioned was other major Canadian cities only have checkstops over the holiday months.

Whats crazier is that the c-train can run 24/7 during stampede and NOT the holidays. It almost like they want to catch ppl. No cabs, fine...the city can step up and run transit 24/7 albeit at a reduced schedule. I didn't spend the holidays here...too hard to get around unless you got wheels, worse if your hammered.

[maverickeastwood]

Just to compare, Prince George BC (pop 80,000) had 5 roadcheck stops, increased transit hours and an operation red-nose campaign. Go figure.

Calgary's Checkstop simply means that the bus is onsite and ready to do breath tests. There is only one bus thus only one "Checkstop" at any given time. This does not preclude regular street patrol from running their own in addition to stopping suspected drunk drivers on traffic stops.

[maverickeastwood]

They still use the bus? I thought they gave you a free ride downtown if you failed the roadside breath test or refused.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Russic

I've seen that before and it enrages me to no end.

I once had my license suspended for 24 hours and I blew under .08 (.05 I think)

They also towed my car and tacked on the mandatory one day impound fee of $75.

I was left downtown with my friend with no ride at 2:30 in the morning in December. Luckily a friend drove by (I still can't believe how incredibly lucky that was) and we got a ride back up north in the back of a pickup.

So getting upset about the 24 hour suspension being the last action is silly when you don't know the circumstances

[nik-]

additionally, the same thing happened to a friend of mine this New Years, he blew under but they suspended his license. However, they towed his car to HIS HOUSE and he got a ride with the tow truck driver

haha I was so pissed when I found that out.