Quebec Police Are Setting Up Road Checkpoints To Catch Drunk Drivers This Holiday Season
Plus random mandatory testing.
As the holiday season approaches, so too do the drunken late-night parties and Quebec police are planning ahead to keep the roads safe from inebriated drivers.
In collaboration with the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec and police forces across the province, the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) is launching an Opération Nationale Concertée (ONC) to ramp up interventions, checkpoints and random mandatory screening measures on the roads to detect people who may be driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
According to a press release, the SQ will establish "roadside checkpoints throughout Quebec, day, evening and night."
"Throughout this ONC, an awareness campaign will be deployed, in particular on the various social media platforms. This campaign aims to remind drivers of the consequences of driving impaired by alcohol, drugs or a combination of the two."
The SQ says that from 2015 to 2019, drinking and driving contributed to an average of 85 deaths — 24% of annual deaths on Quebec roads — and 220 severe injuries a year. Narcotics were also detected in 37% of drivers who died on the roads over the same period, according to the police force.
Cannabis is the drug most often detected in these cases.
If you do not respect the law against impaired driving, you risk an immediate suspension of your driver's license for 24 hours or 90 days and the immediate seizure of your vehicle for 30 days.
The police operation begins on November 26, 2021, and will continue until January 3, 2022.
