Drunk driving charges down, cops say
Surrey Motorists were more naughty than nice in the last month of 2011 than they were during the same period in 2012.
The Surrey RCMP traffic section either ticketed or charged 2,218 motorists between Dec. 2nd and Jan. 2nd of 2011-12, compared to 1,828 over the same span of days in 2012-13.
Here's the breakdown. For those periods, there were 17 impaired driving charges laid in 2011-12 compared to only one in 2012-13. Police issued 194 seatbelt tickets in 2011-12 and 136 in 2012-13; 29 tickets for excessive speeding in 2011-12 and 19 in 2012-13; 151 tickets for distracted driving in 2011-12 compared to 95 in 2012-13. Moreover, for 24-hour alcohol-related driving prohibitions there were 52 in 2011-12 and three in 2012-13, and for 24-hour drug-related prohibitions there were 23 in 2011-12 and seven in 2012-13.
Surrey's numbers mirrored results from Christmas Counterattack campaigns throughout the Lower Mainland, where all told, Mounties laid 961 impaired driving-related charges between Dec. 2 and Jan. 2 compared to 1,434 for the same period one year ago.
"There's been very good media coverage of the new impaired driving legislation and penalties, and I think that's helped people make better choices," said Cpl. Robert McDonald, of RCMP Traffic Services in B.C.