Summer CounterAttack roadchecks underway

June 29, 2022

With the Canada Day long weekend approaching, ICBC and police are asking drivers to plan ahead to get home safely if their summer activities involve alcohol.

Every year on average, 65 people are killed in crashes involving impaired driving*, with 40 per cent of those fatalities occurring during summer months alone.**

Police will be ramping up enforcement beginning this weekend, looking for impaired drivers at CounterAttack roadchecks set up throughout the province.

Crashes involving impaired driving are preventable. No matter where you are this summer: if you plan to drink, don't drive – arrange a designated driver, call a taxi or rideshare, or take transit.

ICBC has led impaired driving education campaigns and funded CounterAttack enhanced police enforcement for over 40 years. Learn more facts and tips in ICBC's infographic.

Editor's note: Media will be invited to upcoming CounterAttack roadchecks throughout the province.​

Quotes

Chief Superintendent Holly Turton, Co-Chair of the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police Traffic Safety Committee and Officer in Charge of the BC Highway Patrol

“Police across B.C. fully support ICBC's Summer CounterAttack campaign and we will be out in force to deter impaired driving. We will utilize mandatory alcohol screening, Standardized Field Sobriety Testing and Drug Recognition Experts to identify and remove alcohol and drug-affected drivers from our roads. Police in B.C. work closely with our road safety partners to make our highways safer."

Lindsay Matthews, ICBC's Vice-President Customer Experience & Public Affairs

“We all have a role to play in keeping the roads safe this summer, and it starts with making a plan to get home safely. There's no excuse to drink and drive. If your summer activities involve alcohol, always use a designated driver, call a taxi or rideshare, or take transit."

Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, responsible for ICBC

Most people get the message that driving after drinking or consuming drugs is dangerous. Unfortunately, there are still those willing to take a chance with their own lives, the lives of their passengers and the lives of other road users. This impaired driving campaign is an important tool that helps educate and protect British Columbians."

​Regional impaired statistics

• On average, 16 people are killed and 690 injured in 1,200 impaired driving related crashes in the Lower Mainland every year.

• On average, 11 people are killed and 310 injured in 550 impaired driving related crashes on Vancouver Island every year.

• On average, 24 people are killed and 360 injured in 600 impaired driving related crashes in the Southern Interior every year.

• On average, 14 people are killed and 170 injured in 250 impaired driving related crashes in North Central B.C. every year.

​​Canada Day statistics***

• Each year on Canada Day, one person is killed and 190 injured in 640 crashes in B.C.

• Each year, 130 people are injured in 380 crashes in the Lower Mainland on Canada Day.

• Each year, 24 people are injured in 91 crashes on Vancouver Island on Canada Day.

• Each year, 27 people are injured in 120 crashes in the Southern Interior on Canada Day.

• Each year, seven people are injured in 38 crashes in the North Central region on Canada Day. 

*Injuries and crashes are police data, five-year average 2017 to 2021. Fatal victim counts are police data, five-year average 2016 to 2020. Impaired is defined to include alcohol, illicit drugs and medicines.

**Summer months include June, July, August and September.

***Canada Day is calculated from 00:00 to midnight and includes incidents where the time was not reported. Based on five-year average. Injured victim and crash data from ICBC data (2017 to 2021) and fatal victims from police data (2016 to 2020).