Impaired-driving arrest stats revealed

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The city police's Checkstop program is a prominent annual effort, but charges are laid for impaired driving throughout the year. (PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES) Photo Store

THE BREAKDOWN

Impaired-driving charges in Winnipeg by year and by city wards

2010
January 46
February 33
March 47
April 46
May 43
June 29
July 66
August 51
September 41
October 50
November 44
December 96
TOTAL: 592

2011
January 46
February 35
March 47
April 50
May 52
June 41
July 43
August 40
September 47
October 37
November 41
December 58
TOTAL: 537

2012
January 42
February 28
March 38
April 41
May 36
June 46
July 31
August 37
TOTAL TO AUGUST: 299

Charges by neighbourhood
Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry 140
River Heights-Fort Garry 65
Charleswood-Tuxedo 48
St. Charles 32
St. Norbert 51
St. Vital 81
St. Boniface 141
Transcona 77
Elmwood-East Kildonan 113
North Kildonan 75
Mynarski 171
Old Kildonan 54
Point Douglas 154
Daniel McIntyre 98
St. James-Brooklands 126

Four days before his 24th birthday, Grant McLeod was a passenger in a car struck head-on by a pickup truck travelling the wrong way down the Perimeter Highway.

The Sept. 9 crash left McLeod in a coma and killed the driver of the car, 21-year-old Samantha Schlichting, a mother of two.

Police charged the driver of the pickup truck, 49-year-old David Deslisle, with impaired driving causing death, impaired driving causing bodily harm, refusing to give a breathalyzer test and possessing marijuana resin.

While the pickup truck driver was not injured, McLeod suffered memory loss and brain damage that makes it difficult for him to speak.

"I have (had to relearn a lot). Not as much as I thought I'd have to. I guess all the information's still in my brain somewhere. Now it just has to make different connections. So that's mostly what I'm doing now, is trying to make those connections," McLeod said. "I think I have pretty much relearned how to walk, and even now, I can still feel that my left leg, it has a little bit of a limp in it."

Since January 2010, Winnipeg police have laid 1,428 charges of impaired driving involving alcohol in Winnipeg, according to records obtained through a freedom-of-information request. There have also been 35 incidents of impaired driving causing bodily harm and four incidents of impaired driving causing death.

Documents reveal most incidents happen close to the city centre. Of all the city wards in Winnipeg, Point Douglas, Mynarski, St. Boniface and Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry have the highest number of charges and accounted for 42 per cent of the total charges of impaired driving involving alcohol between 2010 and 2012. These areas include neighbourhoods such as downtown, the Exchange District, the Corydon strip and Osborne Village, which are full of late-night hot spots.

Most drivers were charged late at night or early in the morning, as records show 53 per cent of all impaired driving charges were laid between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. The numbers spike between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m., closing time for most bars in the city.

Buses stop running not long after the bars close, and most routes even earlier, meaning someone who doesn't want to spend money on a cab may decide to take a risk driving home. Taxi company officials said wait times for cabs often jump on weekend nights due to high demand, which means people who don't call for a cab in advance might have to wait more than an hour to get a ride.

"Because there's such a big rush to get home at 2:30 in the morning, our cars are everywhere," said Gurdip Singh, manager at Duffy's Taxi. "It is a longer wait after the bar rush, but that's just part of the business. Even with the additional cars, there are a lot of Christmas parties we have to accommodate."

A number of impaired-driving charges are typically laid during the holiday season, despite services such as Operation Red Nose, which offer to get people home safe and keep drunk drivers off the road.

Joyce McLeod, Grant's mother, said a doctor from Health Sciences Centre phoned her at 6:30 a.m. to say Grant suffered head injuries and a broken left femur following the crash and was a "very sick boy." She urged motorists to think twice before getting behind the wheel impaired.

"All I can say is don't do it. It's not worth it," McLeod said. "It's not worth putting other people through the pain that they have to go through, and what you'll have to go through when you realize that you are the reason someone is dead."

city.desk@freepress.mb.ca

With the help of Free Press staff, students in Red River College's Creative Communications program learn how to mine freedom of information legislation for stories. At the start of the school year, students submit access to information requests. Over the next several weeks, the Free Press will publish some of the stories students wrote based on their requests. Visit wfp.to/opensecrets to see them all.

Impaired driving charges in Winnipeg

Click on any icon to find out the number of impaired-driving related charges in that neighbourhood between 2009 and the summer of 2012. Neighbourhood locations are approximate.

Green icons denote neighbourhoods with fewer than 10 charges, yellow icons show neighbourhoods with 10 to 20 charges, and red icons show areas with more than 20 charges.

Map and graph include all charges of impaired operation -- both alcohol and drugs -- in Winnipeg from 2009 to August 2012. Source: Winnipeg Police Service.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 5, 2013 A11