RCMP take to social media to help reduce impaired driving in Sask.

The RCMP in Saskatchewan is hoping it will make you stop and think before drinking and driving this weekend.

Saturday Dec. 3, 2016 is National Impaired Driving Enforcement Day and the Mounties are taking a new approach in its message.

On social media beginning at 11 a.m. it will be sharing the stories of its members and their experiences with drunk drivers.

There will be 24 stories shared over a 24 hour period.

“This would provide a very interesting perspective from the RCMP point of view in telling our stories,” explained Sgt. Al Hofland, acting officer in charge of traffic services for Saskatchewan.

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“We want to make sure that people know that impaired driving has a significant impact, I mean we have seen the devastation that it causes.”

One of the stories is of an officer pulling over a driver who was a repeat offender.

“I was patrolling the highway and a van went by at 85 kilometres per hour in a 60 km/hr zone…the van came to a stop and the driver exited the vehicle and staggered into the road…At this point, the driver stated “okay, I admit it, I was impaired”….the driver was charged with impaired driving…they had been convicted eight previous times for impaired driving and was also a disqualified driver at the time of the offence.”

In Dec. 2015, the RCMP in Saskatchewan charged 210 people with impaired driving offences, almost seven a day.

In the same month, each day between the hours of 3 p.m. to 3 a.m., the RCMP averaged one driving complaint call per hour — usually it was a complaint of a suspected drunk driver.

Again in Dec. 2015, there were eight fatal crashes, half of which were related to alcohol, the RCMP calls that “unacceptable”.

Hofland wants people to understand what their members go through when they arrive on the scene of a drunk driving related collision and the impact it has on so many people.

“It does hit you, it hits you emotionally and everything else that has to go with it, dealing with the scene, dealing with the families and the personal reflection after that.”

You will find these stories on Twitter and on Facebook.

 Email smills@cjme.com
 Twitter @smillsSK