Police forces in Toronto and across the GTA say they're struggling to find an explanation for a spike in impaired driving charges.

Over the holiday season drunk driving charges shot up in Toronto by 33 per cent over the previous year while in Peel Region the number was up 47 per cent.

Sgt. Tim Burrows of the Toronto Police Service said the trend is alarming.

"It's astounding really," said Burrows. "Surprised doesn't even begin to measure exactly the level of it. And it's not just a Toronto issue. Across the GTA we saw that the impaired driving [charges] have gone up."

The statistics show increases in charges for three major jurisdictions:

  • Toronto: 69 (2007); 92 (2008) (up 33 per cent).
  • Peel Region: 90 (2007); 132 (2008) (up 47 per cent).
  • Durham Region: 105 (2007); 132 (2008) (up 26 per cent).

Burrows also points out that during the 2008 RIDE program about 88,000 vehicles were stopped in Toronto, about 6,000 fewer than in 2007.

One possible explanation for the increase, according to Burrows, is that RIDE patrols focused more efforts on side streets and other non-traditional areas. Instead of putting spot checks on major routes, police concentrated instead on secondary roads that impaired drivers might use.

"We'll continually play with it until we get it refined to such a point that the public not only gets the message, but they adhere to the message," said Burrows.

Carolyn Swinson, chair of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said everyone knows drinking and driving is wrong, but many people don't understand all of the consequences of a charge.

"I don't think they are aware of the fact that if they are caught drinking and driving — and decide to plead not guilty and fight it — by the time they go through the court system it's going to cost them about $20,000 to pay legal fees," she said.

Swinson said MADD is constantly working with police forces across the country to develop the anti-drinking and driving message.

"People have to know that the likelihood of them getting caught is much greater."

She also hopes new provincial laws cracking down on impaired driving will help when they take effect this year.