Officers across northeastern Alberta hit the highways just before the Family Day long weekend with a focus on distracted drivers.
RCMP and Integrated Traffic Unit (ITU) officers from Boyle and Athabasca took part in the blitz, which operated Feb. 11 to 13 in the region.
Local officers dished out 42 distracted driving tickets, at a hit of $172 each. They also levied a total of 52 speeding tickets over the three days as well as one for going more than 50 kilometres over the speed limit, which netted the driver an automatic court appearance.
One impaired charge was laid as was one charge of hit and run and one for careless driving.
Those results were not that shocking, but were concerning to the officer in charge of the Boyle/Athabasca ITU, Sgt. Sonny Kim.
“The Athabasca and Boyle ITU will continuously enforce distracted driving infractions for the rest of the month as the distracted driving campaign is on for the whole month of February,” explained Sgt. Kim.
Kim also expressed the fact that the other serious driving charges laid should impress upon driving the need to operate their vehicle safely and be far more cautious on the roads, especially with the winter conditions the area has experienced lately.
In addition to those charges, officers also found a variety of other violations committed by drivers during the blitz.
They included tickets issued for numerous violations of the vehicle equipment regulations, three charges each for drivers who could not produce a drivers licence or proof of insurance, three seatbelt violations, five expired licence plates, two arrested for driving while suspended and pulled off the road one uninsured vehicle and three unregistered vehicles.
