Police say the number of impaired driving charges filed so far this year in the city has already exceeded the total from all of 2015.
According to the Toronto Police Service, there have been a total of 1,241 impaired driving charges as of Monday compared to 1,218 in 2015. The number of charges handed out to drivers impaired by a drug has also increased with police in Toronto issuing 81 such charges so far in 2016, compared to only 26 in all of 2015.
Meanwhile, police in York Region say that they have filed 1,400 impaired driving charges so far in 2016 compared to 1,255 in 2015. Impaired driving charges involving a drug are similarly up in York Region with 80 issued so far in 2016 compared to 36 by this point last year.
The news of the spikes in impaired driving charges comes following yet another tragic crash involving a drunk driver.
On Monday night just before 10 p.m. a Honda Civic was heading eastbound on Bloor Street near Parliament Street when it failed to negotiate a curve, left the roadway and then slammed into a pole and part of a bridge wall.
A 25-year-old male passenger was killed in the collision and a 20-year-old female passenger was rushed to hospital with critical injuries.
A third female passenger suffered minor injuries following the crash.
The driver, 23-year-old Galeeb Abau-Jabeen, is facing multiple charges, including impaired operation of a motor vehicle causing death.
