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Nearly Half of Impaired Driving Fatalities are Innocent Victims

Thursday, 23 November 2017 at 15:14

Oxford OPP will be starting their Festive RIDE campaign on Friday.

OXFORD COUNTY - OPP R.I.D.E programs are starting up again to ensure that everyone is safe this holiday season.

In the past 15 years over 1000 people have lost their lives to drunk driving. West Region OPP Headquarters, Sgt. Dave Rektor, on who pays the greatest price for these mistakes.

"We see it over and over again, where the person whose driving impaired tends to survive the crash and the person whose innocently  driving or walking along that is struck by the driver ends up dying from the injuries. " 

Tragically, 464 of the 987 deceased were innocent victims in these crashes, while the other 523 were the at-fault impaired driver. 

Rektor, on how people can help just as much as the police by preventing loved ones from getting behind the wheel impaired.

"We need everybody's help. This isn't just a police issue its a societal issue and one that everybody can do a whole lot better at doing then we have done in the past."

So far this year, 37 people have died in collisions linked to an alcohol or drug-impaired driver, 19 of whom were innocent victims. Sadly, 2017 marks the fourth consecutive year to see a higher number of innocent people killed than impaired drivers who caused the collision.   

Ride programs will be starting tomorrow and ending January 2nd.
 

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