Less than 48 hours into the 2015 Red Ribbon campaign, London police arrested a total of seven people for impaired driving.
The campaign, which discourages motorists from driving while impaired by having them tie a red ribbon on their vehicle, launched on Friday. Within a few hours, officers busted a suspected impaired driver, whose vehicle hit a parked car before crashing through a fence.
A 21-year-old man who police say nearly caused a collision while doing a U-turn to avoid one of the many RIDE checkpoints throughout the city on Saturday night, was charged after fleeing from his vehicle after officers pulled him over. Police also say the man had court-ordered conditions not to operate a vehicle.
Other incidents over the weekend saw two pedestrians hit by a suspected impaired driver, a man passed out behind the wheel of his vehicle with the vehicle in gear, and concerned citizens block a vehicle in, shut it off and take the keys away from its driver.
Six men and one woman were charged with impaired driving.
London police say they are disheartened by the number of people charged with impaired related offences on the heels of the Red Ribbon campaign launch.
Police will be holding RIDE programs throughout the coming holiday season. They will be taking a zero tolerance approach to anyone driving while drunk.