Niagara Regional Police stopped approximately 550 vehicles at a R.I.D.E. spot check in Niagara Falls over the Thanksgiving weekend, and none of the drivers tested ended up facing criminal impaired driving charges.
The spot check took place on Friday, October 9, 2026, as part of Operation Impact, an initiative led by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, according to a Niagara Regional Police Service news release.
Throughout the night, officers asked drivers whether they had consumed alcohol or drugs before getting behind the wheel. Eight drivers were required to provide breath samples for analysis, and all of the samples came in under the legal limit, so no criminal charges were laid at the checkpoint itself.
Officers did, however, issue six Part III Summons and seven Provincial Offence Notices for a range of violations under the Highway Traffic Act, the Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act and the Cannabis Control Act.
Some of the offences police documented included driving without insurance, surrendering false proof of insurance, using unauthorized licence plates, failing to properly secure an infant in a child seat, and having cannabis readily accessible inside a vehicle.
Away from the Niagara Falls checkpoint, police reported that three impaired operation arrests were made across Niagara over the course of the weekend — two involving alcohol and one involving drugs.
The NRPS Traffic Enforcement Unit thanked residents who helped keep Niagara's roads safe over the holiday weekend by not driving while impaired, distracted or dangerously, and by making sure everyone in the vehicle was properly buckled in.
Police said impaired driving remains the leading criminal cause of death in Canada, and the service remains committed to reducing it through a combination of public education and enforcement programs such as R.I.D.E.
The initiative was made possible in part through grant funding from the Ministry of the Solicitor General under the Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere program, the release said.
