Yellowknife (Oct 08/04) - Yellowknife RCMP and Municipal Enforcement will be out in force from Oct. 8 to 11, with a zero-tolerance approach to dangerous and irresponsible driving.

Operation Impact is part of a nationwide campaign known as Vision 2010 -- a national drive to make Canadian roads the world's safest by the end of the decade.

"It's done across Canada to increase awareness and reduce dangerous driving," explained RCMP constable Sean Chiddenton, a traffic member with the detachment.

Chiddenton said Operation Impact will focus on a variety of dangerous driving behaviours, including speeding, impaired driving, intersection violations and driving without seatbelts or child restraints.

In addition, drivers who come through the check-stops will risk getting a warning, being ticketed or having their vehicles seized if they have bald tires, cracked windshields, rusted-out vehicles, tinted windows, covered or dead lights or out of date licenses or registration papers.

"We have a lot of discretion in how we deal with this and we often exercise some leniency," Chiddenton explained.

"We take windshield cracks, for instance, with a grain of salt, because it's the Northwest Territories and everyone has one."

However, "for the campaign, we look to drive home the point (about safe driving) and it's a zero-tolerance approach," said Chiddenton. Cracked windshields only become an issue when the crack impedes the driver's vision. RCMP statistics say traffic accidents are the leading cause of death among youth in Canada, said Chiddenton.

Further, "the severity of drinking and driving (in the NWT) has been up to twice that of the Canadian average."

There are around 200 convictions for drinking and driving in the NWT each year.

Chiddenton also cited a study by Transport Canada that pegged the health and social costs of dangerous driving at $8.6 billion for 1999.

Operation Impact is timed to coincide with the introduction of new impaired driving legislation from the GNWT.

But if you're sober and safe, you have nothing to worry about if you're pulled over in a checkstop.

"We'll be looking to acknowledge responsible drivers, too," said Chiddenton.

"It's not all negative."