PEACE BRIDGE
Bills fans subject to DWI checks as they return to Canada on Peace Bridge
Canadian police agencies looking for drunken drivers screened thousands of people crossing the Peace Bridge after the Buffalo Bills game Sunday afternoon.
Canadian police chose a home-game weekend to stage a holiday blitz against drunken driving, just as they did at this time last year and in 2006.
But law enforcement officials claimed the crackdown was not responsible for an hourlong delay heading to Canada via the Peace Bridge late Sunday afternoon and early evening.
“We have 80 officers on this to make sure there’s no traffic hindrance,” said Detective Sgt. Cliff Priest of the Niagara Regional Police Service.
The delays would have occurred even without the spotchecks, he said, noting that bridge traffic has been heavy due to Bills fans returning home, coupled with Canadian shoppers who flocked to Buffalo-area stores for holiday weekend sales.
Bills fans venturing to Toronto for next Sunday’s game also can expect Toronto-area spot-checks as part of the program called “Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere,” Priest said.
“Incidents of impaired driving go up over the festive season,” he said, explaining why Canadian agencies cast their widest net around the holidays.
Canada this year has revised laws that make it easier to prove a driver is impaired, he said.
As of 6 p. m.,officials estimated that at least 2,000 vehicles had been checked at an inspection site near the Peace Bridge’s Canadian plaza. There were three DWI arrests. Six motorists also faced 12- hour license suspensions under a Canadian law that allows for such a penalty if a breath test shows that a person’s blood-alcohol count is at least 0.05 percent — below the threshold for a DWI charge.
Law enforcers from six agencies took part in what is expected to be the largest single DWI-related spot-check in Canada this year.
More than 3,000 vehicles were stopped after a Bills game last year, leading to 23 license suspensions for a 12-hour period and six arrests for impaired driving.
mspina@buffnews.com and bmeyer@buffnews.com
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