Saskatchewan hit a new high for driving under the influence this year, with RCMP and municipal police services stopping 497 impaired drivers in the month of July.

That’s slightly higher than the 482 impaired drivers stopped in the month of June, and well above the 328 impaired drivers caught in May.

Of those 497 impaired drivers, 292 were charged with criminal code offences.

“While not an all-time record high, this is the most impaired driving offences in a single month so far this year,” reads and SGI press release. “Summer is about having a good time. The best way to ensure the good times continue is to find a safe ride home.”

SGI also reported 581 distracted driving offences for the month of July, 454 of which involved drivers using a mobile device behind the wheel. SGI says distracted driving accounts for roughly one in five auto crash injuries in Saskatchewan. It is also one of the leading causes of death on Saskatchewan roads.

Officers also handed out 5,411 speeding or aggressive driving tickets in July, and 375 tickets for not wearing a seatbelt or having a child improperly restrained.

With harvest getting underway, SGI has also urged drivers to keep an eye on all the slow-moving farm equipment on the road.