Impaired driving arrests in York Region were up for the third consecutive year in 2016.
York Regional Police say that 1,265 people were arrested for impaired driving offences last year, compared to 1,255 in 2015 and 1,108 in 2014.
York police say that of the drivers arrested, 85 per cent were men and 15 per cent were women.
Of the men arrested, police say that almost half of them were between the ages of 22 to 34.
“These incredibly disappointing numbers must serve as a wake-up call that something has to change,” Chief Eric Jolliffe said in a press release. “In light of the continued warnings about the dangers of impaired driving from police services across Canada, it’s shocking that anyone feels they have the right to risk the lives of innocent people by drinking alcohol or using drugs and getting behind the wheel of a vehicle.”
About 24 per cent of the impaired driving arrests in York Region in 2016 involved drivers with a blood alcohol level of .150 to .200 while 19 per cent involved drivers with a blood alcohol level between .120 and .150.
Two per cent of the arrests involved drivers with a blood alcohol level of more than .300, which is a level of intoxication which police are required to treat as a medical emergency.
A total of nine people died in impaired driving related accidents in York Region in 2016.
