Police kick off Summer Checkstops
By Nelson Daily Staff
For motorists who like to roll the dice by drinking and driving, police are sending out a message.
“Nelson Police department in conjunction with the Integrated Road Safety Unit will be set up in the Nelson area with the intent of targeting impaired drivers as the summer season beginsSargent Paul Bayes of the Nelson Police Department.
“Checkstops will be set up in the Nelson area with the intent of targeting impaired drivers as the summer season begins.”
Some facts about Drinking and Driving:
Young people have the highest rates of traffic death and injury per capita among all age groups and the highest death rate per kilometer driven among all drivers under 75 years of age.
More 19-year-olds die or are seriously injured than any other age group.
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among 15 to 25 year olds, and alcohol is a factor in 50% of those crashes.
Sixteen-25 year olds constituted 13.7% of the population in 2009, but made up almost 31.1 % of the alcohol-related traffic deaths.
Young drinking drivers are most likely to be killed or injured in the summer (32.4% and 40.8% respectively) and least likely to be killed or injured in the winter (8% and 11.4% respectively).
Driving while impaired by drugs is also a serious concern.
Canadians between 14-25 years old have one of the highest rates of cannabis use in the world. It’s the drug they use most after alcohol. Most young people see cannabis as a benign drug, far less dangerous than alcohol and think driving under the influence of cannabis is risk free, despite the evidence that shows cannabis can shorten attention span, alter perception of time and distance and slow reaction times – all of which impair the driver’s ability to respond to sudden events in traffic.
