The RCMP will be keeping an eye out for impaired drivers this weekend.
In Alberta, the police plan to kick off Impaired Driving Enforcement Month by holding a checkstop blitz across the province. The large operation will take place in local detachment areas, as well as major roads across Alberta.
Hundreds of officers are set to take part in the operation, which is part of a Canada-wide enforcement day aimed at ridding the roads of impaired drivers.
Drivers suspected of being impaired by alcohol and/or drugs will be subject to road-side sobriety tests that may result in immediate licence suspensions and/or criminal charges.
“Having a check stop blitz in early December provides a very visible reminder that the RCMP, with the help of the Alberta Sheriffs, will be out on the roads throughout the holiday season on the lookout for impaired drivers,” said Inspector Steve Daley, Acting Officer-in-Charge of Alberta RCMP Traffic Services, in a news release.
So far in 2016, RCMP and sheriffs in Alberta have issued more than 1,600 roadside license suspensions for impaired driving. From the start of 2016 up until Oct. 31, 3836 adults and 44 young people have been charged with impaired driving. 11 of the adult charges were in connection to a death caused by drunk driving.
The check stops will run throughout Saturday and into Sunday morning. Some check stops will be mobile, and moving locations in order to cover as much of the province as possible.