Peel Regional Police have caught 147 drinking drivers on Brampton and Mississauga roads since Festive Season RIDE spot checks began Nov. 18.

Police have charged 60 drivers with impaired driving-related offences and another 87 drivers have had their licences suspended for three days for registering a “warning” on a roadside screening device. A "warning" indicates someone has more than 50 mg of alcohol in 100 mL of blood, but less than the legal limit of 80 mg, which would lead to a criminal charge.

In the first four weeks of the holiday RIDE program, police stopped close to 12,000 vehicles in spot checks.

More than 400 drinking drivers (215 charged, 208 warned) were caught on roads in Brampton and Mississauga in last year’s six-week campaign, down slightly from the year before. In last year’s campaign, a total of more than 33,000 drivers were checked.

While Peel police conduct RIDE checks throughout the year, enforcement is ramped up during the festive season. Officers will be out every night setting up spot checks and additional officers are assigned.

And Peel police say it is zero tolerance as they remind everyone attending parties, dinners, restaurants or other get-togethers where they might be drinking alcohol, to arrange for an alternate way to get home.

Officers assigned to spot checks will be looking for drivers whose abilities are impaired by drugs and/or alcohol.

“Impaired driving remains the leading cause of criminal death in Canada,” said acting Insp. Gary Carty, officer in charge of Road Safety Services, in a news release.