“The holidays are always a special time for friends and family coming home from around the province and country,” said Staff Sgt. Dan Furman, of the EPS Specialized Traffic Section. “Officers from EPS and its partnering agencies, including the RCMP and Alberta Sheriffs, will be facilitating Checkstops across the city throughout the holidays to help ensure everyone gets home safely.”
“Whether the driver is impaired by alcohol, prescription medication, cannabis or illegal drugs, it has always been a criminal offence to drive while being impaired,” explained Staff Sgt. Furman. “You’re risking losing your licence, your job and you’re also risking your life, the lives of any other occupants in your vehicle and the lives of those on the roads around you.”
“Stay at home or make plans to take a taxi or ride sharing service. As individuals, as a community, we need to take care of one another to ensure we all get home safely to our families.”
EPS Const. Adam Cotterall, of the Service’s Impaired Driving Unit, will be one of several EPS members participating in the 2022 Checkstop initiative. For Cotterall, a seven-year member of the EPS, these types of impaired driving initiatives are not just “another day on the job.”
“In 1998, a good friend of mine was driving home from work after a night shift. That night he was struck by an impaired driver in a head-on collision. My friend died in the collision and the impaired driver survived.”
“After learning about what had happened, I was in disbelief. There was an immediate sense of loss. I went through so many emotions at the time, attempting to cope with never being able to see my friend again. Even now, nearly 25 years later, the pain of losing a friend so young still stings when I think about what happened,” recalled Cotterall. “What should have been a bright future for my friend was unnecessarily stolen by an impaired driver.”
Impaired driving in Canada, noted Cotterall, continues to be a leading criminal cause of death.
“When becoming a police officer, that tragic event motivated me to learn all I could about impaired driving,” explained Cotterall. “That knowledge has afforded me an opportunity to honour the life of my friend, while helping to remove impaired drivers from Edmonton streets.”
The EPS Checkstop program involves vehicle-stop locations and roving patrols across the city looking for impaired drivers. While it is aimed at detecting impaired drivers and removing them from the road, a large component is also aimed at educating the public of the dangers and consequences of impaired driving.
If you suspect a driver is impaired, please contact police as soon as possible to Curb the Danger:
- Call 911 if it is safe to do so.Calling 911 in an emergency, or to report an impaired driver, is permitted while driving under the distracted driving law.
- Report the location, vehicle description, and licence plate number.
- Keep the vehicle in sight but do not attempt to chase the vehicle or break the law to do so.
Curb the Danger Summary Statistics, 2018 – YTD 2022 | |||||
Category | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | YTD 2022 |
CTD Calls | 8,938 | 8,824 | 6,275 | 6,963 | 4,942 |
CC Impaired *Criminal Code | 680 | 581 | 379 | 78 | 63 |
Provincial IRS | - | - | 33 | 468 | 482 |
Impaired Driving Occurrences: 2018 - YTD 2022 (Jan – Nov) Criminal Code (CC) Impaired Charges and/or IRS - Fail Provincial Sanctions, | |||||
Category | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | YTD 2022 |
Total Impaired Driving Occurrences (CC and/or IRS - Fail) | 1,127 | 1,350 | 981 | 1,011 | 854 |
For more information on EPS traffic safety and enforcement initiatives, please visit www.edmontonpolice.ca/traffic.