Northwest Territories RCMP are launching a month-long sting operation to catch impaired drivers in December.
Called Operation Gingerbread, the exercise will involve traffic stops and roadside checkstops throughout the NWT to ensure drivers are sober behind the wheel.
“The holidays are a happy and festive time of the year. A time for celebration with family and friends,” said RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Matt Halstead. “Do not let your holiday be remembered for tragedy. As people come together, alcohol and other intoxicating substances frequently becomes a part of those gatherings.
“This in turn leads to an increased potential for incidents of impaired driving, often resulting in death or serious life-changing injuries as people travel from one location to another.”
Citing a statistic from Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Halstead extrapolated that over the 12 days of Christmas, up to 48 families could be “irrevocably changed as a result of impaired driving over the holidays alone.”
In the NWT, drivers caught with between .05 and .08 blood alcohol content will automatically lose their licences for 24 hours on a first offence or 30 days on repeat offences within a two-year period. New drivers caught with any alcohol in their system automatically have their licence suspended for 30 days.
Drivers caught over the .08 blood alcohol limit or who refuse to provide a breathalyzer sample automatically lose their licence for 24 hours. They can then receive a seven-day temporary driver’s permit to get their affairs in order and are then further suspended for 90 days — on top of any criminal code charges they may be facing.
Anyone convicted of a criminal code charge related to impaired driving is automatically barred from driving for a period of time, depending on how many times they’ve been caught. A first conviction costs one year of driving privileges, a second conviction will take you off the road for three years. A third conviction will suspend driving privileges for five years. Additional convictions start at five years and go up.
If someone is killed in an impaired driving incident and a person is convicted of that offence, their driving privileges are suspended for a minimum of five years.
On Oct. 8, a man was killed in a single-vehicle collision related to impaired driving on the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway just outside of Inuvik.. The driver of the vehicle has been charged.
However, the volume of impaired driving complaints in Inuvik has dropped exponentially. According to the November RCMP report to Inuvik Town Council, in 2021 RCMP responded to 289 complaints of impaired driving. As of this year, RCMP have only responded to 89 complaints.
Halstead encouraged anyone who suspects someone is driving impaired to report the incident to police immediately.
“”If your celebration plans include the consumption of intoxicating substances, please be sure your plans also include alternatives for travel back home,” he said. “These plans could include having a designated driver, calling a taxi or side share service. You can also arrange to stay for the night where you may be celebrating. The key to good holiday planning is to have a plan before you party.
“Please remember, friends don’t let friends drive impaired.”