Impaired driving charges up in GTA, OPP says

Ontario Provincial Police say they're laying more drunk driving charges in the Greater Toronto Area.

They say they have caught more than 1,000 impaired drivers in the GTA since January, compared to less than 800 during the same period last year.

But they also say there's been a 40 per cent decrease in alcohol-related fatalities in the first seven months of this year. According to the OPP, there were 34 such deaths in the first seven months of 2014 compared to 19 since January 2015.

OPP Sergeant Kerry Schmidt says increased public awareness means more people are calling 911 to report erratic driving.

He says the force continues to rely on citizens alerting it to report suspicious drivers.

"When people call in to report a suspected impaired driver, they're not just taking a driver off the road, they may in fact be saving a life because we're getting to these drivers before they cause a wreck," Schmidt told CBC News.