'No excuse for anybody to be driving impaired': Stratford police see rise in impaired driving

Two impaired driving incidents in the span of just two days has the Stratford Police Service worried.

"I think the biggest concern is the concern for public safety," said Cst. Darren Fischer, media relations officer for the Stratford Police Service.

The first crash happened just before 3 a.m. Saturday on Downie Street near Falstaff Street.

The crash sent a 31-year-old to hospital in critical condition.

A crash on Downie Street near Falstaff Street on July 22, 2023. (Submitted/Stratford police)A 19-year-old South Perth resident is now facing several charges relating to the head-on collision.

"As a result, the driver was found to be impaired by alcohol and sadly the other driver of the vehicle that was struck head on was sent to hospital in critical condition," said Fischer.

Just two days later, police charged a 24-year-old driver who was allegedly impaired when they drove off the road and directly into the front of a home on Mowat Street around 2 p.m.

"Everybody becomes at risk as a result of impaired driving and I think with the incident that happened at the home, we're just really grateful nobody was home," he said.

Stratford police have laid charges against the driver of a vehicle after it struck a house on July 24, 2023. (Source: Stratford police)Police said they have seen an alarming increase in the number of impaired driving incidents this month compared to last year.

"Over the month of July, and we're not even done the month of July, yet we've had 11 different incidents of impaired driving – eight by alcohol three by drug,” said Fischer. “If we look at July last year, we only had two."

According to the latest information from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), many Canadian drivers are still choosing to get behind the wheel while impaired.

"The reasons that they give is they didn't have far to go, they didn't feel like they were impaired and they thought they could drive safely and they wouldn’t get caught and so you know, people find various reasons to justify their behavior," said Steve Sullivan, CEO of MADD Canada.

While Sullivan said they do tend to see an increase in impaired driving cases in the summer months, in general, numbers are increasing which they believe is unacceptable.

"Far too many people are still making the choice to drive impaired and that means far too many people are being injured or killed every year and there's really no excuse for anyone to be driving impaired," Sullivan said.

Stratford police continue to remind drivers to plan for a sober ride home, drive the speed limit and control their lane position based on their current driving environment.