Weekend checkstop blitz nabs 70 drivers in Alberta

RCMP stopped nearly 14,000 vehicles this weekend as part ofa province-wide checkstop blitz, leading to charges or suspensions for 70 drivers.

In all, 35 drivers were charged with being impaired behind the wheel.Another 31 were issued roadside suspensions because of alcohol while another four drivers were given roadside suspensions due to drugs.

The officers who worked the checkstops in the brutal cold on Saturday night can take pride in knowing that their collective efforts took 70 impaired drivers off the roads, saidSuperintendent Howard Eaton, Officer-in-Charge of K Division Traffic Services, in a statement released Monday.

The Alberta effort was part of a Canada-wide RCMP enforcement campaign.

Checkstopswere set up in all RCMP jurisdictions on Saturday to markthe end of National Safe Driving Week.

Eaton's statement stresses that officers "will be out again this weekend and every weekend until we win the battle against impaired driving."