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(SHELBY THEVENOT / iNFOnews.ca)

Police have begun increasing enforcement efforts across the Province to stop impaired drivers this holiday season.

The month-long CounterAttack impaired driving campaign begins today, Saturday, Dec 1, a media release says. The campaign includes the National Impaired Driving Enforcement Day and a one-day provincial blitz when motorists can expect to see a heightened police presence in many areas of the province.

Traffic Services Units and Detachments throughout the province will be implementing their respective enforcement plans on various dates throughout the month. Police will be using every resource at their disposal to get impaired drivers off the road including the use of Standardized Field Sobriety Testing and specially trained Drug Recognition Experts. Police are also fully prepared to enforce the recently introduced cannabis legislation.

Each year approximately 65 people die in collisions where alcohol, drugs or medication is involved based on a five-year average from 2012 to 2016. Impaired driving fatalities are one of the leading causes of death on provincial roadways. 

"A small decision can have great consequences," Superintendent Davis Wendell, the Officer in Charge of BC RCMP Traffic Services, says in the release. "If you are planning on drinking or using drugs this holiday season, please do not drive. By finding an alternative way home such as public transit, taxi or a designated driver you can ensure that you, and others sharing the road with you, get to their destination safely. Please make it your habit to drive sober every time you get behind the wheel."

Motorists can to expect to see numerous police road-checks throughout the province during the month of December and police ask everyone to drive safely and obey the direction of officers at all check-stops.

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