Festive RIDE 2024: Drive sober this holiday season

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, November 28, 2024     12:08 pm

(Ottawa) —This holiday season, the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) will be conducting RIDE (Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere) programs and is reminding drivers to celebrate responsibly and keep our roads safe.

The OPS’ municipal and policing partners, like the RCMP, OPP, MADD Ottawa, Safer Roads Ottawa and the Ottawa Insurance Brokers Association, will also be involved in the RIDE campaign.

During the program, RIDE checkpoints will be present at various times throughout the city.

“We all have a responsibility to keep our roads safe,” says Acting Sergeant Amy Gagnon with the Impaired Countermeasures Section. “During this holiday season, we want everyone to make it home safely to their loved ones, and we are asking our community to drive sober and plan a ride home.”  

We continue to work hard to address impaired driving, even more so during the festive season. Year to date, we have seen:

• 752 drivers charged with impaired driving related offences, 299 of those charges were as a result of calls to 9-1-1;
• 195 collisions;
• In 2024, as of early November, there were 12 fatal or life-threatening collisions where alcohol or drugs were determined to be a factor (of the 195 collisions).

If you are going to consume alcohol or cannabis, plan a safe ride home, like a designated driver, a taxi, rideshare or public transit.

As a reminder, since 2018, officers can demand that a driver provide a sample of their breath into an approved screening device without first suspecting that the driver had been drinking.

Let’s all do our part to keep our roads and community safe this holiday season.

If you suspect someone is driving impaired, call 9-1-1. 

Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling Crime Stoppers toll-free at 1-800-222-8477 or at crimestoppers.ca

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CONTACT:

Media Relations Section

Tel: 613-236-1222, ext. 5366