The growing number of alcohol or drug-related motor vehicle crashes across the municipality has prompted Chatham-Kent police to get more officers qualified to determine if drivers are impaired.
Three, possibly four, of the 10 fatal crashes across Chatham-Kent in 2021 were alcohol or drug related, Acting Sgt. Josh Flikweert told members of the Chatham-Kent Police Services Board during a presentation of the community patrol branch annual report on Wednesday.
The fourth fatal crash is awaiting the toxicology report to confirm if it was impaired-related, he added.
“In 2020, we noticed that 31 per cent of the serious collisions were alcohol-related,” Flikweert said.
In order to try to mitigate that issue, the police service added seven more Standard Field Sobriety Testing trained officers bringing the total to 41, he said.
After seeing a significant increase in drug impairment incidents last year, with Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) officers used on 46 occasions – a 283 per cent increase from 2020 – Flikweert said more officers will be undergoing DRE training.
He noted there were two DRE officers, but one has since retired.
There were a total of 69 crashes involving alcohol and drugs out of the 1,670 motor vehicle collision across the municipality in 2021.
“There was an increase in collisions where alcohol and drugs were a factor in 2021,” Flikweert said.
The majority of these crashes involved people intoxicated by alcohol, he said, but added drug impairment collisions increased by 89 per cent.
He said further analysis revealed the peak time for these crashes were between 8 pm and 4 am
The highest percentage of alcohol and drug-related collisions occurred among drivers between 34 and 42, he added.
Of the 18 serious and fatal crashes, 10 of the investigations resulted in charges being laid, which included 14 criminal charges and 14 provincial offense charges, Flikweert said.
There was an average of 139 collisions per month last year with the highest number of crashes occurring in November – 185 – and most collisions occurring on Wednesday – 299 – with Friday a close second at 291. Sunday had the least number of crashes with 160.
Collisions involving pedestrians and cyclists increased last year and continue to trend from the previous year with the highest two months being June and October, Flikweert said.
A total of 36 crashes involved pedestrians in 2021 with three being fatal and there was 28 collisions with cyclists with no fatalities.
The top three intersections where crashes occurred are all in Chatham with 14 at both Keil Drive and Richmond Street and Lacroix Street and Richmond Street. There were also 10 crashes at Grand Avenue West and Keil Drive North.