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REGINA – New traffic laws that came into effect on June 27 have resulted in 651 sanctions being issued for unsafe driving behaviour.

SGI says 271 drivers have received licence suspensions and 380 vehicles have been seized.

Those are numbers the head of SGI finds discouraging.

“It’s disappointing to see so many vehicle seizures and suspensions in such a short time period, but it’s also encouraging to know police have the new laws at their disposal to mitigate the high number of collision-related deaths and injuries in Saskatchewan,” said Andrew Cartmell, president and CEO of SGI.

Of those drivers who were suspended, 28 were new drivers with zero to .08 blood alcohol content (BAC) or drugs, while 56 were experienced drivers with .04 to .08 BAC or drugs.

Another 179 new and experienced drivers were given indefinite suspensions for being over .08 BAC or refusing to give a test. Last year during the same period, 258 drivers were given suspensions.

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Of the vehicles seized, 189 were for alcohol or drug infractions, with another 131 for unauthorized drivers.

Police also seized 24 vehicles that were being driven while not registered and 12 speeders going over the limit by more than 50 km/h had their vehicles seized.

“The combination of these serious consequences and increased dedicated traffic enforcement throughout the province will ultimately lead to increased safety on our roads and highways,” stated Cartmell.

The new traffic laws were enacted after recommendations were made by a traffic safety committee following a record number of deaths on Saskatchewan roads in 2012.