Last Saturday, December 1 marked the start of the RCMP’s month-long Provincial CounterAttack Impaired Driving Campaign. A National Impaired Driving Enforcement Day and a one-day provincial blitz was also held on Saturday with a heightened police presence targeting impaired drivers. Sergeant Chad Badry with West Kootenay Traffic Services says he is disappointed in the number of violations handed out during the blitz in the Nelson and Castlegar areas.
“We ended up giving out eight 90-day immediate roadside prohibitions. That comes with a 30-day vehicle impound as well, so that’s the criminal level of impairment. We gave out two, three day immediate roadside prohibitions, four 24-hour driving prohibitions for alcohol, and one 24-hour driving prohibition for drugs, along with a myriad of other violation tickets that we ended up handing out.”
Sergeant Badry says not enough people are following guidelines when it comes to impaired driving. According to provincial statistics approximately 65 people die each year in collisions where alcohol, drugs or medication is involved, making impaired driving fatalities one of the leading causes of death on provincial roadways.
Motorists can to expect to see numerous police road-checks throughout the province during the month of December and police ask everyone to drive safely and obey the direction of officers at all check-stops.