WESTLOCK – While RCMP provincewide handed out 2,302 traffic tickets over the Labour Day long weekend, Westlock-and-area highways were relatively quiet by comparison as less tickets were issued this year compared to 2021.
Alberta RCMP Traffic-Westlock Sgt. Leigh Drinkwater said from Sept. 2-5 on the highways around Westlock, Barrhead, Wabasca and Slave Lake, officers handed out 34 tickets for a variety of traffic offences, plus 23 speeding tickets while two drivers had their licences suspended for driving under the influence of alcohol. Two suspended drivers were also taken off the road, while three were fined for not wearing their seatbelts and one was caught with open liquor in their vehicle.
Across Alberta, RCMP officers issued 2,302 traffic tickets, while 1,058 individuals were ticketed for speeding, 74 received fines for distracted driving and 85 impaired motorists were nabbed. Additionally, Alberta RCMP responded to several motor vehicle collisions, which resulted in four fatalities.
Drinkwater, noting the Labour Day weekend traffic stats from this year were actually lower than 2021, said enforcement on a long weekend offers its own set of challenges.
“Sometimes you see an offence being committed but the safety of both the travelling public and the police officer outweighs the importance of being able to stop that vehicle and issue the ticket. It could be an unsafe section of the highway, or even just due to the traffic volume,” he explained.
While there were no serious collisions locally, Drinkwater said they’re well aware long-weekends can be deadly and breathe a sigh of relief when one passes without a serious incident.
“People are in hurry to get to their destination or get home after a long weekend and they do take risks, whether that’s passing when unsafe or liquor consumption … there are a whole host of reasons why people present those risky driving behaviours during long weekends,” said Drinkwater. “We anticipate (the worst) and we’re actually quite pleased when it doesn’t occur. Conversely, those two driver’s licence suspensions we issued due to liquor consumption may very well, we can’t say for sure, but may have prevented a property damage collision or a fatal collision.”
