Saskatchewan has the highest rates of impaired driving in the country, and social attitudes towards drinking and driving need to change. That, from the Saskatchewan RCMP as Canada Road Safety Week begins, to bring awareness about all of the driving risk factors like impaired driving, distracted driving, and fatigued driving.

Numbers from Stats Canada show the rate of impaired driving in rural Saskatchewan led all the provinces at 939 per 100,000 people. The next highest is Alberta at 597. While the numbers aren’t flattering, SGI spokesman Tyler McMurchy says they are misleading. He points out the number of impaired driving collisions dropped from 16 hundred 96 in 2008 to 770 in 2017.   That is a 55% decrease.  McMurchy notes that stronger impaired driving laws, enforcement and education all play in to reducing the numbers.

The Battlefords RCMP will be conducting a variety of impaired driving enforcement initiatives in the next week and RCMP School Liaison Officer, Cst. Sam Gerstmar will be visiting high schools in the area to bring education and awareness around safe driving. Canada Road Safety Week continues through Victoria Day.  (with files from CKRM)