Last month's Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) traffic safety spotlight was supposed to focus on new drivers, but instead, it showed a recurring and growing problem.

During the month of June, law enforcement across the province issued 376 impaired driving violations. Of those, 333 resulted in charges under the Criminal Code of Canada.

"Saskatchewan has a very poor record when it comes to impaired driving," Tyler McMurchy, manager of media relations with SGI explained. "It's something that we're working hard at SGI to raise awareness about with added law enforcement and tougher legislation as of January 1."

Criminal Code convictions include cases where the driver had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08 or higher, failed a standard field sobriety test for drugs or alcohol, or refused a breathalyzer.

"It's just 100 per cent not worth the risk," McMurchy stated. "The thing is impaired driving is 100 per cent preventable, there is no good reason to get behind the wheel when you have been drinking or using drugs of any kind."

As for the intended June spotlight, law enforcement issued 88 tickets province-wide, with 66 of the tickets for learning drivers caught driving without a supervising driver.

"We know that new drivers are also over represented when it comes to collisions, injuries and fatalities on Saskatchewan roads," he told Swift Current Online Tuesday afternoon. "That's probably the big reason why we decided to concentrate on new drivers for the month of June.

Between 2011-2015, drivers 19-years-old and younger represented 7 per cent of the driving population, but accounted for 11 per cent of collisions, 10 per cent of drivers killed and 12 per cent of drivers seriously injured.

Included in June's monthly statistics released by SGI was 4,762 tickets for aggressive driving or speeding, 441 tickets for inappropriate or no seatbelt/child restraint and 436 tickets for distracted driving - 307 of which for cellphone use while driving.