OPP Holiday Crackdown: Grey-Bruce Saw 331 RIDE Stops, 38 Charges
OPP West Region wrapped its 2025/26 Festive RIDE campaign with 269 impaired driving charges—fewer than last year despite a record number of roadside checks. Here’s what the local data reveals.
Grey-Bruce was one of the most active zones in the OPP West Region’s 2025/26 Festive RIDE campaign, with 331 roadside checkpoints and 27 drivers removed from the road for impaired or warn-range offences during the six-week initiative.
According to newly released figures, Grey Bruce OPP laid 25 impaired driving charges and issued 2 warn-range suspensions, while South Bruce OPP reported 13 impaired charges across 150 checkpoints.
In total, 38 drivers were penalized across the two detachments, which cover a large portion of the Owen Sound Current’s readership area.
The campaign, which ran from November 20, 2025, to January 1, 2026, resulted in 3,095 roadside RIDE events across 13 West Region detachments, making it the most intensive enforcement year in half a decade.
Yet impaired driving charges across the region actually declined, from 292 the year before to 269.
Warn-range suspensions, issued when a driver’s blood alcohol concentration falls between 0.05 and 0.08, rose from 19 to 40 region-wide. However, Grey-Bruce’s numbers remained low in that category.
Local Enforcement Activity Among the Highest in West Region
Grey Bruce had the third-highest number of RIDE checkpoints in West Region, topped only by Essex (375) and Elgin (364).
Essex also laid the most impaired driving charges of any detachment, at 54. Huron and Wellington recorded the most warn-range suspensions, at 8 and 7, respectively.
The OPP release did not provide details about:
Whether any of the impaired driving incidents led to collisions or injuries
How many charges are related to drug impairment versus alcohol
Whether any repeat offenders were involved
Across Ontario, OPP officers laid 1,268 impaired driving charges during 11,130 RIDE checks, along with 150 warn-range suspensions.
In a brief statement, Inspector Michael McConnell, the OPP West Region Traffic and Marine Manager, said: “We remind all drivers to plan ahead, make responsible choices, and always drive sober—if you’ve been drinking, arrange a safe ride home.”
As communities across Grey-Bruce continue to grapple with transportation access, particularly in rural areas with limited late-night transit or taxi service, the question remains whether enforcement alone is enough, or whether broader public safety strategies are needed.
Related:
