47% of people killed in drunk driving crashes 'innocent victims': OPP

Guelph Police officers conduct RIDE spot checks on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017. (Dan Lauckner / CTV Kitchener)

Provincial police say nearly half of the people killed in impaired driving crashes over the past 15 years were not the impaired driver.

They say 987 people have died in alcohol or drug-related collisions on OPP-patrolled roads since 2003.

OPP say 464 -- 47 per cent -- of those people were "innocent victims," while the other 523 were the at-fault impaired driver.

So far this year, provincial police say 37 people, 19 of whom were not the driver, have died in collisions linked to an alcohol or drug-impaired driver on OPP-patrolled roads.

They say this marks the fourth consecutive year when the number of innocent people killed is higher than that of impaired drivers who caused the collision.

Deputy Commissioner Brad Blair is urging those who see a suspected impaired driver to call 911 and says minding your own business about impaired drivers is the wrong thing to do.

"As difficult as it may be to report someone you know to police, living with the decision not to is far worse if that driver goes on to kill someone or themselves in a crash," Blair said Thursday in a statement.