Heather Wright/The Independent

Nearly 16 per cent of the people Lambton OPP stopped during Christmas RIDE checks were impaired.

It’s the highest percentage of people impaired during the Festive RIDE campaign in all of the West Region.

The OPP’s Regional Media Relations Coordinator, Derek Rogers says the 13 detachments which make up the West region conducted 3,095 RIDE events with 269 people facing impaired driving charges. Their licences were suspended for 90-days and their vehicle was impounded as soon as the charge was laid. Another 40 drivers across the region  received warning suspensions of seven days. They’re also fined $250 for a first offence and will have to pay nearly $200 to have their licence reinstated.

Across the West Region about 10 per cent of drivers stopped in a RIDE check were charged, that’s slightly lower than the provincial averate of 11 per cent of drivers stopped in over 11,000 RIDE checks.

In Lambton, where officers stopped 250 drivers, 33 impaired driving charges were laid and six drivers were issued warnings. That’s a rate of 15.6 per cent of drivers found to be impaired. 

Essex County OPP found 15 per cent of their drivers were impaired with 375 people checked, 54 impaired charges laid and two warnings issued. Elgin County had the lowest impaired rate of the 364 drivers stopped during the campaign, just 3.3 per cent of the people were charged.

Rogers says officers conducted about 30 per cent more RIDE checks this year than 2024’s Christmas season, but laid 44 fewer charges.

Lambton also laid few charges in 2024, with 125 RIDE checks netting 22 impaired driving charges and six warnings. That was  down from 246 checks over Christmas in 2023 and 44 charges with 12 warnings.

While these charges were laid during a targetted campaign, there were several other impaired driving incidents over the holidays.

Dec. 21, around 1:40 am, Lambton OPP were called to a crash at the corner of Brigden and Plank Roads in St. Clair Township. Both drivers were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Police arrested a 43-year-old Plympton-Wyoming woman and laid six charges including impaired driving and driving while under suspension. Police also impounded the driver’s vehicle for 45 days.

A tip from concerned citizen on Christmas Day led to an impaired driving charge. Officers found the vehicle which the caller described on Highway 40 near Churchill Line around 7 pm. The officers pulled the vehicle over, arrested and charged a 24 year-old from Sarnia with impaired driving.

Dec. 29, just before 2:30 am, Lambton OPP officers were on patrol when they stopped a vehicle on Lake Road in Grand Bend.

A man from Ilderton was arrested and faces two impaired driving charges.

And Lambton OPP were called to the bridge Dec. 29 around 8:20 pm by Canada Border Services officers because of a possible impaired driver.

Police arrested a 36 year-old Sarnia man and charged him with impaired driving.

Across Ontario, police officers and the courts now have more tools to deal with impaired drivers. Starting Jan. 1, new laws mean impaired drivers who cause a death will be banned from driving for life. First-time offenders who have a roadside suspension will have to take a program from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. The roadside suspensions for impaired driving offenses will also increase. 

Drivers who have drunk driving records will also feel the weight of those offenses longer. New regulations allow police to look back 10 years instead of five for past offenses which weigh into the sentencing an impaired driver faces.