ѻý

Skip to content

ѻýYou canѻýt make this stuff upѻý: Stories from the B.C. CounterAttack campaign

Amusing, yes, but a reminder impaired driving affects ability to drive and to make good decisions
23978613_web1_counterattack
Throughout December, RCMP conducted CounterAttack road checks as police worked to keep roads free of impaired drivers. (BLACK PRESS file photo)

B.C. Mounties recently wrapped up their winter campaign to counter impaired driving, generating new material for the ѻýwe donѻýt make this stuff upѻý file.

Cpl. Mike Halskov, with BC RCMP traffic services, said Wednesday that police all across the province caught people getting behind the wheel while impaired, including a few repeat offenders.

Hereѻýs a look at a few of the cases:

RELATED:

Driver tries to school officer on roadside laws

A man in Cranbrook found out the hard way that having a history of impaired driving didnѻýt necessarily mean they were an expert on the particular criminal code offence.

According to police, the man refused to give a breath sample after being pulled over by a ѻýseasoned officer,ѻý insisting that this wasnѻýt illegal and all the Mountie could do was issue a 90-day roadside prohibition.

ѻýThe officer chose to follow the law rather than the driverѻýs advice and charged him criminally with refusing to provide breath samples,ѻý Halskov said.

Shortly after the driver was dropped off at home, he called the local detachment to report his vehicle stolen.

ѻýDonѻýt drive impaired and then try to educate the officer on the law ѻý we know our authorities and what we are doing.ѻý

Impaired driver goes through road block twice

On Vancouver Island, officers in the Ladysmith area encountered a driver who came through a road check not once, but twice.

In the first instance, the driver stopped for the officer, but drove off when asked to pull to the side of the road.

ѻýFor reasons that can only be attributed to the driverѻýs impairment, he came through the road check a second time, stopping long enough to hand his driverѻýs licence to the officer before fleeing again,ѻý Halskov said.

Instead of pursuing the individual in a chase, the officer sent a driving report to RoadSafetyBC. A few days later, the officer attended the driverѻýs home and served him with numerous violation tickets, as well as a four-month driving prohibition.

ѻýThe lesson: Police recommend following directions at a road check but, if you choose not to, the consequences may be worse than if you had,ѻý Halskov said.

While these stories cause a chuckle or two, RCMP are urging all British Columbians to not drive while impaired and report any suspected driving under the influence to police.

ѻýAs we have seen many times in the past, the consequences of poor decision making when it comes to impaired driving can be deadly,ѻý Halskov said.

RELATED:



editor@campbellrivermirror.com

Like us on and follow us on



Alistair Taylor

About the Author: Alistair Taylor

Alistair Taylor has been a writer and editor with Black Press since 1989, most of those years spent as editor of the Campbell River Mirror.
Read more



(or

ѻý

) document.head.appendChild(flippScript); window.flippxp = window.flippxp || {run: []}; window.flippxp.run.push(function() { window.flippxp.registerSlot("#flipp-ux-slot-ssdaw212", "Black Press Media Standard", 1281409, [312035]); }); }