Ottawa police are changing up their traditional holiday season RIDE campaign by providing advance notice of the locations for sobriety checkpoints. The initiative, starting this Thursday, will involve the police sharing the general area of the impaired driving stop for that evening on social media.
Sgt. Amy Gagnon mentioned that the intention is to inform drivers in advance to help them make responsible decisions before driving. For instance, on Thursday, the RIDE checkpoint is scheduled for the Riverside/Vanier vicinity. Gagnon emphasized the aim of preventing impaired driving rather than making arrests, emphasizing the importance of road safety.
Although some may find the strategy counterintuitive, as it may allow drunk or high drivers to avoid checkpoints, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) spokesperson Bill Dickson clarified that OPP will not adopt the same approach. Dickson highlighted that disclosing checkpoint locations in advance may enable drivers to circumvent them, emphasizing the primary goal of removing impaired drivers from the roads.
The effectiveness of revealing RIDE checkpoint locations was discussed by Dickson, Gagnon, and Steve Sullivan, CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada. They noted that popular navigation apps already alert motorists about police presence, minimizing the impact of disclosing general checkpoint locations.
In terms of enforcement statistics, Ottawa police have laid 733 impaired driving-related charges this year, a slight uptick from the previous year. Nearly half of these charges stemmed from 911 calls. The city also witnessed 166 impaired driving-related collisions, with five resulting in fatalities or severe injuries. Similarly, OPP reported over 1,900 impaired driving charges in eastern Ontario this year, including 11 fatal collisions.
Since 2018, Canadian police have had the authority to request a roadside breath sample at traffic stops and checkpoints, even without suspicion of alcohol consumption by drivers. The transparency of disclosing RIDE checkpoint locations is expected to provide insights for law enforcement agencies moving forward.