The Revelstoke RCMP have conducted significantly more impaired driving investigations in the first two months of 2020 than in the same time last year.
In January and February of this year the RCMP pulled over 42 vehicles on suspicion of impaired driving, compared to last year’s 24.
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Staff Sgt. Kurt Grabinsky said, although his officers may be getting more skilled at conducting impaired driving investigations, he has no more staff than last year.
He is concerned that there are simply more impaired drivers on the road and that is why the numbers almost doubled. He said both residents and tourists make up the statistics.
RCMP officers can legally pull over vehicles and ask for breathe samples whenever they want. This, along with the introduction of Immediate Roadside Prohibitions, was introduced in 2010.
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A police officer can give a 24 hour driving prohibition, a three day Immediate Roadside Prohibition, a 30 day prohibition, or a 90 day prohibition, without pressing criminal charges.
If the RCMP intend to press charges, the driver will be taken to the police detachment for further testing, said Grabinsky.
The charge is dependent on the severity of the impairment and any past driving history.
In each case the vehicle will be towed at the cost of the driver and may be impounded for 30 days.
In total the RCMP conducted 132 impaired investigations in 2019 within the City of Revelstoke.
In regards to other driving enforcement, the RCMP issued over 550 violation tickets in January and February 2020.
For the same time period in 2019, there were only 350 tickets issued.
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“The chaotic winter of highway closures due to avalanches, fatalities and serious collisions is only one of the factors in the increase in Motor Vehicle Act violation tickets,” said Grabinsky in a news release. “The Revelstoke RCMP encourages the motoring public to drive according to the rules of the road and to the constantly changing driving conditions.”
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