It was all about safety this past weekend during the High Visibility Enforcement (HVE) Check Stops.

This initiative was put on by the Combined Traffic Service, which is a team of officers from RCMP detachments from different locations in Saskatchewan. With help from SGI they saw many residents traveling through check stops on October 27th and 28th.

Cpl. Rob King with Media Relations said they unfortunately still found some impaired drivers. 

"We did issue, I believe it was five roadside suspensions relating to alcohol or drug consumption while driving a vehicle. Whether it was a success or not, if nothing else, hopefully it makes me people aware and gives them a second thought of 'maybe I should make sure I have a sober driver before I'm out and about'."

He noted that there isn't always specific times for HVE weekends, but typically they strategically place them on weekends or a section of days where they anticipate an increase in people on highways. 

"We spread them throughout the year; sometimes there are certain things going on like Christmas, and things like that or maybe it's coming to the end of the school year where there's increased driving or holiday travel. This was just kind of chosen as the weekend to do it where we had the people available and we thought it would be a good time to start spreading these around the province."

There was a long laundry list of items that RCMP officers were searching for during the check stops, but Cpl. King said most were keeping in mind 'the big 4'. 

"Checking for our big four things of impaired driving, aggressive driving, seatbelt usage... we just wanted to make sure the public is aware that the members would be out and hopefully that would curb any thoughts that it would be okay to consume alcohol or any other type of intoxicant and drive."

The fourth item officers were keeping an eye for is an offense that remains as one of the biggest problems today, which is distracted driving. 

Drivers went through two main check stops which were located on Highway 11 near the community of Chamberlain, and another by Saskatoon on Highway 16 on Saturday and Sunday. 

Here is a recap provided by the Combine Traffic Service form the HVE weekend:

-80 tickets were issued under the Traffic Safety Act

-22 tickets under the Alcohol and Gaming Regulations

-4 vehicles failed a safety inspection, one vehicle was impounded

-5 roadside suspensions were issued relating to alcohol and drug consumption

-28 written warnings were issued

-child car seats were inspected to ensure proper installation

-1.5 pounds of Cannabis was seized from one vehicle