BC Highway Patrol’s Light Up the Province campaign took 220 drivers off the roads last weekend.

The effort was led by BC Highway Patrol and involved more than 400 police officers checking more than 43,000 vehicles on highways from Prince George, to Revelstoke, to Campbell River, to Nelson.

Superintendent Mike Coyle says it can feel like an inconvenience when you are waiting in line at a check stop, but it’s effective and they are catching a lot of impaired drivers.

He says plenty of people still think they can get away with driving while impaired, which he says is why Light Up the Province is necessary.

The numbers are still being added up, but police say 43,713 vehicles were checked, and at least 222 immediate roadside license suspensions were issued.

At least 279 Violation Tickets were issued for non-impaired driving.

Light Up the Province is BC Highway Patrol’s contribution to National Impaired Driving Day, which marks the traditional launch weekend for the December Winter Impaired Driving Campaign.

For more information, visit BC RCMP.