Ottawa Police Crack Down on various traffic violations

As a means to crackdown on impaired driving and to enforce safe cycling, this past June the Ottawa police ran a program called the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program.  This program involved an increased focus on enforcing safe driving and cycling and resulted in approximately 450 charges being laid.  Of these charges, 120 were for impaired driving, resulting in about 50 individuals being charged, many of them for multiple offences.  While this program aimed to target impaired drivers, other charges were also laid, such as those related to unpaid parking tickets and other offences unrelated to impaired driving.  These charges resulted in 86 people having their driver’s licences suspended.

The well-known R.I.D.E initiative was also part of this program.  Police randomly stopped over 2,000 vehicles to check for cases of impaired driving.  Three drivers were charges with impaired driving and 15 driver’s licence suspensions were issued.  This crackdown on impaired driving aimed to make people more aware of police presence on the roads and to draw attention to the seriousness of criminal offences.  It was also meant to act as a means to deter people from driving impaired in the future.

As criminal lawyers, we at Auger Hollingsworth often come across impaired driving cases.  These cases can be more complicated than one might think so if you have been charged with impaired driving, it would be wise to hire an experienced criminal defence lawyer.  We believe in keeping our roads safe and in enforcing the law, but we also believe that individuals charged with impaired driving deserve a good legal defence.  Impaired driving charges and a criminal record can have a lasting effect on a person’s life so hire a criminal defence lawyer who can defend your charges.