Festive RIDE campaign week two: another 15 drivers arrested in eastern Ontario
Police have arrested and charged another 15 people with impaired driving related charges in the 2025-26 Festive RIDE campaign in eastern Ontario.
These 15 arrests are on top of the 34 such arrests that occurred in the same region during the first week of the campaign, which began on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, according to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
An acronym of ‘Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere,’ RIDE programs involve OPP detachments setting up checkpoints on OPP-patrolled roadways. The Festive RIDE program runs annually in the weeks leading up to New Year’s Day. This year’s Festive RIDE program will end on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026.
Specifically in the OPP East Region, officers have conducted more than 500 Festive RIDE checkpoints thus far in this year’s campaign. The total 49 drivers so far that have been arrested and charged for “being impaired behind the wheel” had their licences automatically suspended for 90 days (and each will face further licence suspension if convicted). Additionally, all 49 drivers had their vehicles impounded for seven days, and the drivers will be responsible for the fees/fines related to the towing/impounding of their respective vehicles.
On top of those arrested and charged, two drivers were issued three-day licence suspensions in the second week of the Festive RIDE program in the OPP East Region – those drivers were found to be in the warning range on an approved roadside alcohol screening device, which detects the presence of alcohol on a person’s breath. In addition to the seven three-day licence suspensions issued in the first week of the East Region Festive RIDE program, a total of nine drivers have now faced this consequence, according to the OPP.
The provincial police noted that with the Festive RIDE campaign running until January 1, eastern Ontario residents should “expect to see RIDE programs day or night, seven days week.”
“If you suspect someone is driving impaired by drugs or alcohol, call 911,” the OPP stated.
“You could be saving lives.”