An Easter weekend crackdown on drivers without seatbelts has resulted in a startling number of impaired driving arrests, Ontario Provincial Police say.
OPP officers have been on the lookout all weekend for drivers who haven’t buckled up but the campaign hasn’t just uncovered people without seatbelts. According to Sgt. Kerry Schmidt, police have also arrested nine people for impaired driving over the last 48 hours. .
“Unfortunately it is not just the seatbelts that we are finding but we are finding impaired drivers as well,” Schmidt told CP24 on Sunday morning. “It is unacceptable. We are seeing so many people doing high risk driving and it is putting people at risk.”
A total of 332 people not wearing a seatbelt have died in collisions in Ontario over the last five years.
Though convincing more drivers to buckle up is the focus this weekend, Schmidt told CP24 that it is disheartening to encounter a large number of impaired drivers as part of that initiative.
“We are out there doing what we can because we don’t want another tragedy but we need drivers to change their behavior and be part of the solution,” he said.
