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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2015-05-27, Page 98 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, May 27, 2015 Impaired driving charges surge in Huron County Marco Vigliotti Huron Expositor Huron County's OPP detachment says impaired driving offences over the first four months of 2015 have increased by 90 per cent compared to the same span last year in a development it calls "troublesome" and "very concerning." The regional police force says it has already charged 34 drivers with impaired driving and/or over 80 milligrams offences in Huron County this year, compared to just 18 at this point in 2014. THIS IS OUR GIGANTIC, SPECTACULAR, INCREDIBLE, COLOSSAL SALE WITH THE MOST UNBELIEVABLE LOW PRICES DURING OUR ANNUAL INVENTORY CLEARANCE, WHICH WE'VE SIMPLY CALLED: THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO REAP HUGE SAVINGS ON ALL • LED HD TV'S •DVD/BLU RAY PLAYERS •SURROUND SYSTEMS *SATELLITE SYSTEMS *OTHER AUDIO & VIDEO PRODUCTS "THE CLEARANCE" WILL ONLY BE IN EFFECT WHILE STOCK LASTS... AND AT THESE LOW PRICES STOCK MAY NOT LAST LONG!!! CSG3�I C 7DI MAN D Il EFK)L I { 7 DI '[ DC DIDC CDM TV'S! eIFREE Careful, Quick Delivery eFREE Complete Setup & Demonstration /FREE Professional In -House Service cr/FREE Upgrade to Component or HDMI cables DAP H S` LM TV.& TEREO 144 THE SQUARE, GODERICH • 524-9576 These FREE SERVICES would add $400 or ore to your TV purchase from other retailers, if they were available at all. OPEN: MON.-FRI. 9 AM- 6 PM; SAT. 9 AM - 5 PM www.chisholmtv.com "It is very concerning to see such a drastic increase this year in the numbers of impaired drivers being charged in Huron County. Every single one of those drivers that were stopped and taken off the road posed a risk to our loved ones using the roadway,» Huron OPP Staff Sgt. Shawn Johnson said in a prepared statement. According to figures pro- vided by the OPP, men consti- tuted a whopping 85 per cent of those charged with impaired driving offences, while both male and female young drivers between the ages of 16 and 29 formed the largest share of offenders by demographic band at 33 per cent. Only 24 per cent of those charged hailed from outside Huron County. The statistics also show that 62 per cent of impaired drivers were pulled over in rural areas, prompting a swift rebuttal from the force dismissing suggestions that driving while intoxicated is somehow tolerable in sparsely populated locales. «Any suggestion that drinking and driving is a just a way of life in rural Ontario or socially acceptable in Huron County is completely unacceptable and highly inexcusable,» Johnson said. «Impaired driving is a seri- ous criminal offence, one that places our community at great risk. Collectively, we can all make a positive dif- ference in reducing the number of impaired drivers as we move forward in the year." The police forces notes that all drivers charged with impaired driving were slapped with an automatic 90 -day driver's licence sus- pension and summoned for a future court date. Interesting statistics in the Huron County OPP year-to- date Impaired/Over 80 Charges data: (Actual numbers are in parentheses) 85% (29) of the charged drivers were male 76% (26) of the charged drivers were from Huron County 68% (23) of the stops took place during daylight hours (6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.) 62% (21) of the drivers charged were stopped in rural areas. 38% (13) of drivers charged were between the ages of 16 to 29. Of particu- lar note, six (6) of those driv- ers were under the age of 22 (Young Drivers that are sub- ject to a Zero Blood Alcohol Concentration). 33% (11) of drivers were between the ages of 30 to 49 and 26 % (9) were between the ages of 50 to 69. 15% (5) of the drivers charged were involved in motor vehicle collisions Source: Huron County OPP Special Investigations Unit invoke mandate after rollover in Bluewater Huron County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and members from the OPP West Region Technical Traffic Col- lision Investigation (TTCI) Team were on the scene investigating a single motor vehicle collision, which occurred just before 5 a.m. on the morning of May 24. Police said a Huron County OPP officer observed a pickup truck traveling westbound on MacDonald Road in an erratic man- ner. According to an OPP release, the officer attempted to stop the pickup truck however the driver refused to stop. A few minutes later an OPP officer located the pickup truck overturned on its roof in the ditch at the intersection of MacDonald Road and Shipka Line, police said. The officer was able to extricate the single male occupant from the vehicle. Huron County EMS attended the scene and transported the driver to hospital for treatment. The 71 -year-old male driver from Bluewater has been admit- ted to hospital with non -life threatening injuries. The OPP has notified province's Special Investiga- tions Unit (SIU), which has invoked its mandate. The intersection of Mac- Donald Road & Shipka Line was closed due to the investigation.