Halifax police catch 11 drivers with twice the blood alcohol limit in July

CITYnews halifax / By Mark Hodgins

Halifax Regional Police reported a drop in impaired driving charges laid in July from the month before.

According to police, 29 drivers were charged with impaired driving related offences in July. Of the charges, 18 were for alcohol impairment, two were for drug impairment, and nine drivers were issued suspensions for driving while having consumed alcohol.

“Of the drivers who provided breath samples, officers were able to detect a wide range of blood alcohol concentrations (80 to 250 mg %) with eleven drivers being at least twice the legal limit,” police said in a news release. “Three of the drivers refused to provide a breath sample and were charged with the offence of refusal.”

Police say five of the charges were laid following calls from the public about suspected impaired driving.

This comes after officers stopped and charged 42 drivers with impaired-related offences in July.

Police said statistics on impaired driving vary from year to year, which is a result of many factors.

“I can (say) that we do continue to detect and catch impaired drivers on a regular basis throughout our region and all times of the day,” Constable John MacLeod, with HRP, told CityNews previously.