Sask. police suspend 316 impaired drivers in April: SGI

During the month of April, 316 drivers in Saskatchewan were suspended for exceeding the provincial limits for alcohol or drugs.

Of those 316 drivers, 113 were new and 203 were experienced, according to a news release from Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI).

Of the 113 new drivers, 49 were suspended for going over the alcohol limit and 64 were suspended for going over the drug limit. Of the experienced drivers, 77 were suspended for going over the alcohol limit and 126 were suspended for going over the drug limit.

SGI said new drivers make up about nine per cent of all drivers in the province but accounted for over one-third of the number of suspensions issued by police in April.

According to SGI, this points to a pattern that shows new drivers generally get a disproportionate amount of “provincial administrative driving suspensions related to alcohol and drugs.”

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New drivers aren’t allowed any alcohol in their system when they drive, SGI said, so a new driver will be suspended for going over a .00 blood alcohol concentration. New drivers will also be suspended for exceeding 25 ng/ml of THC in their oral fluid, the release said.

SGI also reported that in April, 4,203 tickets were issued for speeding and aggressive driving offences, 381 tickets were issued for people not wearing a seatbelt or not using the proper car seat, and 573 tickets were issued for distracted driving.

The 573 distracted driving offences included 465 for using a cell phone.

Another 170 people were charged under the Criminal Code for an impaired driving offence, SGI said.