OPP say impaired driving, crashes up across province in 2023

Ontario Provincial Police say they saw more impaired driving this year compared with last year, and more impaired driving crashes.

OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt says there was a 16 per cent rise in impaired driving occurrences and a 10 per cent increase in collisions involving impaired drivers.

He says OPP officers have laid more than 10,000 impaired driving charges so far in 2023, 215 of them in the last week.

Schmidt says 397 people died in crashes this year, 49 of them in collisions involving alcohol or drug impairment.

He says the province hasn't seen 400 fatal crashes in a year since 2004.

OPP are responsible for patrolling Ontario's highways, among other policing duties.

The Canadian Press