Mounties handed out hundreds of tickets across Saskatchewan during enforcement blitz

RCMP officers in Saskatchewan spent several days focusing on safe driving earlier this month, handing out 372 tickets, 41 roadside suspensions and five criminal charges for impaired driving.

According to the Mounties, the three-day traffic enforcement blitz was held in two separate areas. From Jan. 16-18, officers were stopping vehicles in areas between Melfort and La Ronge, as well as the surrounding communities, checking for impaired drivers and “unsafe driving behaviours.”

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The RCMP said about 80 vehicles were stopped, and officers performed about the same number of alcohol screening tests to determine whether drivers had been drinking before getting behind the wheel.

During those three days, officers handed out 71 tickets and 111 warnings, along with 10 roadside suspensions “after determining drivers had recently consumed alcohol or drugs.” The officers also impounded 16 vehicles and an ATV, and issued four criminal charges for impaired driving.

Between Jan. 14 and Jan. 16, officers proactively checked about 430 vehicles and drivers in Cut Knife, the Battlefords, Lloydminster, Maidstone, Onion Lake and Turtleford, as well as the surrounding areas, the RCMP said. Those efforts resulted in 302 tickets, 311 warnings, 31 roadside suspensions and one criminal charge.

“Every vehicle we stop gives officers an opportunity to prevent a serious incident, such as identifying a potential impaired driver,” inspector Lee Knelson, an officer with the RCMP’s traffic services division, said in a statement.

“As such, we want to thank the public and our partner agencies for their ongoing support as we work to get everyone to their destination safely.”