Police officers often deal with the aftermath of horrible crashes, and the impact those crashes have on grieving loved ones. Whether it is a fatal or serious injury collision the life altering consequences to the families involved is immeasurable. What is missed by the impaired driver is the lifelong burden that families will have to endure as the result of their stupid and irresponsible decision.
“We don’t call these accidents,” says Corporal Robert McDonald, spokesperson for RCMP Traffic Services. “There’s nothing accidental when someone makes the decision to get behind the wheel when they are impaired.” Sadly too many people in this province still don’t grasp the gravity of impaired driving. That’s the conclusion of the BC RCMP Traffic members, who recently shared true stories of impaired drivers they have dealt with during their careers.
We hope that by sharing these alarming stories, early in the Counter Attack season, will provide an extra incentive for people to find alternate ways of getting home, such as public transit, cabs or a designated driver,” says Cpl. McDonald
“Please, take time to consider your actions. You don’t want to be on this list next year, or worse, on the list of people that have killed or seriously injured someone as the result of being impaired.
In possession of all his ‘facilities’
The suspect’s defense lawyer in an impaired driving trial asked a Traffic police officer who was testifying in a packed courtroom, if he’d provided his client with an opportunity to use the facilities. When the police officer tried to be discreet in his answer, the judge instead instructed him to offer a full description. The police officer then described how the defendant had to use the wall to steady himself, but swayed so much that he urinated on two different urinals and the wall. When the laughter in the courtroom died down the defense lawyer simply said, “No more questions your honor.”
Should have listened to his wife
A traffic team was working on a roadblock on the Lougheed Hwy. A van pulled up with a male driver, who smelled of liquor. Police administered an Approved Screening Device (ASD) test, and the driver blew a FAIL. As the traffic officer was explaining the process to the driver, a woman in a taxi claiming to be his wife showed up. However, the man was alone in his van, and had not made any calls while police were dealing with him. The mystery was solved when the woman told the traffic officer she had been with her husband at a party. She then said to her husband, “I told you that you had drunk too much, and to take the taxi with me!”
Burning up
One recent Halloween night in the Lower Mainland, a driver sat intoxicated in his car, while his vehicle’s engine burned. The public tried to help him before police showed up, but the driver was too intoxicated to realize the danger and refused to exit his car. Members of the public stepped in – at their own risk, to pull the driver from the vehicle. When police arrived the driver was too intoxicated to blow. Nonetheless he was charged with Care and Control of a Motor Vehicle While Impaired, and the public who assisted him were given a police commendation.
Is this the highway?
A constable was sitting in his marked police car pulled over on the shoulder of Hwy. 99, north of Squamish. A vehicle pulled up beside him in the slow lane, and the driver stopped, rolled down her passenger window, asked the constable where the highway was. The constable asked her to pull in front of his police car, and the driver again asked where the highway was, and stated she was trying to get from Vancouver to Squamish. She had just driven over 20 kms northbound on the highway, looking for the highway, and a town she had already passed.
Warning didn’t do much
A male driver pulled up to a roadblock, and was cocky and nonchalant about the check, despite having the odor of liquor on his breath. Police administered an ASD test, and the driver blew a fail. The driver was then offered a second ASD test, and blew a second FAIL. Upon learning about the FAIL results (seizing driver’s license, 90-day driving prohibition, vehicle impoundment) the driver became very irate, and let loose with a barrage of insults. The last thing he said before getting in his taxi was that he was going to fight the IRP and win. His reason… apparently last week he had also been drinking, but had only blown a WARN. As it transpired, he had been issued a three day driving prohibition just six days earlier by another member of the same Traffic team.
Across B.C. the RCMP will be out in full force at Counter Attack road checks this holiday season, looking for drivers under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Police encourage everyone to make a plan before they head out to holiday festivities.
“Impaired driving accidents are 100 per cent preventable. All people have to do is to plan ahead before consuming alcohol, it’s not hard - if you drink don’t drive,” Cpl Mc Donald “E” Division Traffic Services says. “Driving while impaired is simply not acceptable, and it is not worth hurting innocent people or yourself. Plan ahead, arrive home safely and everyone will be able to have a happy holiday season with friends and family.”