Ottawa police and OPP lay 77 charges during Canada Road Safety Week blitz

Red and blue lights atop an Ottawa police vehicle are seen in this undated file photo.

The Ottawa Police Service says 77 charges were laid by officers during a joint blitz with the Ontario Provincial Police last Friday.

The May 15 blitz was part of Canada Road Safety Week, and focused on on high-risk driving behaviours, including excessive speeding, stunt driving, impaired driving, distracted driving, and unsafe vehicle modifications, police said.

In addition to the 77 charges, police impounded seven vehicles, including six for stunt driving and one for impaired driving.

Charges included speeding, careless driving, distracted driving, unlicensed driving, having obscured licence plates, having an improper muffler, vehicle equipment violations and red-light violations.

Ottawa police say the six stunt driving charges were in the following areas:

• 112 km/h in a 60 km/h zone on Greenbank Road
• 137 km/h in an 80 km/h zone on Greenbank Road
• 150 km/h in a 100 km/h on Highway 417 near Kanata Avenue
• 152 km/h in a 100 km/h on Highway 416 near West Hunt Club
• 162 km/h in a 100 km/h zone on Highway 417 near Eagleson Road
• 163 km/h in a 100 km/h zone on Highway 417 near Riverside Drive

A stunt driving charge comes with an automatic 30-day driver’s licence suspension and a 14-day vehicle impound.

A driver stopped for unspecified equipment violations near Alert Road and Thad Johnson Private that night was later charged with impaired driving and operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration over the legal limit following an alcohol screening, police said.

An impaired driving charge comes with a 90-day licence suspension and a seven-day vehicle impound.

“High-risk driving behaviours continue to put everyone on our roads at risk. Operations like this are about keeping roads safe for all users through both enforcement and visibility. Whether you’re driving, riding, cycling, or walking, we all have a role to play in road safety,” the Ottawa Police Service said in a news release.

More than two dozen impaired charges this spring

Ottawa police said separately that 25 drivers have been charged with impaired driving since the launch of the Spring into Safety: May RIDE campaign.

The campaign involves putting up lawn signs at sites where drivers have been stopped and charged. In a post on social media on Tuesday, police said 17 signs have already been placed, with eight more coming soon.

“Impaired driver caught here” signs have been placed along Elgin Street, at the corner of Bank Street and Albion Road, along Bank Street near Hunt Club Road, and at the corner of Bayview Drive and Hunter Crescent, among other areas, based on images police shared online.

“So far, the campaign has resulted in two drug-impaired driving arrests, three roadside alerts, resulting in seven-day licence suspensions, and 32 criminal charges laid, including 27 impaired-related offences,” police said.

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