Sask. drivers got more than 8,500 tickets for speeding or agressive driving in March: SGI

Saskatchewan police recorded 8,734 traffic offences related to speeding or aggressive driving in March, according to SGI's traffic safety spotlight.

That's the most recorded during a safety spotlight since 2014.

Police recorded 748 distracted driving offences, meaning people were possibly on their phones, checking their makeup or chowing down behind the wheel. Drivers also generated 657 offences for seatbelt or booster seat violations.

SGI urges people to slow down, buckle up, avoid distractions and drive sober.

There were also 319 impaired driving offences in March alone.

There are hundreds of impaired driving offences in Saskatchewan each month and that number has remained consistent, despite the provincial government introducing tougher penalties for scofflaws putting other people's lives in danger by drinking and driving.

Saskatchewan has topped the list of impaired driving per capita among provinces.

In 2015, the province had 575 impaired driving incidents per 100,000 people — the highest impaired driving rate among Canadian provinces, according to Statistics Canada.