As of today, police forces across the province began a major operation on Friday to curb impaired driving during the holiday season, starting the ball rolling with already two arrests in Sherbrooke.
The operation had not even started yet when the Sherbrooke Police Service (SPS) made a first arrest on Thursday around 5 p.m., following a collision between two vehicles at the intersection of King Street West and Belvédère Sud, he indicated in a press release.
“A police officer went to the scene to secure the scene and ensure that no one was injured. While meeting the parties involved, she quickly noticed that the driver at fault was intoxicated by alcohol,” reported the police force.
Courtesy Sherbrooke Police Department
Placed under arrest, the 61-year-old driver allegedly blew two and a half times the limit permitted by law, and will have to appear in court to answer for his actions.
Only a few hours later, around 6:20 a.m. Friday morning, a second individual, aged 66, was caught while driving impaired by drugs, while the police were checking him for a brake light. faulty central unit on his vehicle.
That’s when officers allegedly noticed drugs inside the vehicle, and the man was placed under arrest pending testing.
The two sixty-year-olds had their driving licenses suspended, said the SPS, while their vehicles were towed.
These arrests kick off a concerted national Alcohol-Drugs operation which is due to begin on Friday, and will run until January 2, 2025.
During this period, Quebec police services will intensify their interventions on the road by increasing road checks and screenings, to try to stop impaired driving.
This scourge is the cause, on average, of 25% of fatal collisions and 15% of collisions with serious injuries occurring between 2018 and 2022, we can read in the press release.
