Every month, SGI and law enforcement will have a particular driving offence for their traffic safety spotlight. This month, they have two that are the focus – impaired driving and seatbelt use. 

While impaired driving is the leading factor in fatalities on Saskatchewan roads, it isn’t always the only factor in those deaths.  

SGI, in a release issued Thursday, listed off some of the numbers from the past five years. There were 172 deaths as a result of impaired driving collisions between 2017 and 2021, according to the Crown insurance company. In more than a third of those deaths, people were not properly restrained in their vehicles.  

“Driving impaired is dangerous, and not wearing a seatbelt is reckless; unfortunately, where you find one, you often find the other,” said Kwei Quaye, SGI Vice-President of Traffic Safety. “The combination significantly compounds the risk of a bad outcome, because driving impaired greatly increases the chance you’ll be in a crash and being unbelted increases the chance the crash will kill you.” 

For the month of June, SGI and law enforcement are reminding drivers that road safety comes down to making good decisions, like driving sober and always buckling up.