Saanich police are seeing an “alarming” increase in impaired driving, with cases from January to June up 120% from the same period a year ago.
Over the Halloween weekend alone, 14 impaired driving cases were reported, said Const. Markus Anastasiades. By the end of September, Anastasiades said, Saanich police had seen just over 300 cases — more than one a day during the first nine months of the year.
He said the surge in cases this year may be related to the lifting of pandemic restrictions that kept drinking establishments closed in 2021. “It’s alarming to us as police officers to see this happening,” said Anastasiades. “We’re seeing impaired drivers during the mornings, afternoons, during rush hour and into the night. There’s no real estimated time anymore when people are driving impaired.”
On Thursday, Saanich police said alcohol was a factor in a crash where a vehicle veered off Cedar Hill Road and hit a large tree.
The crash happened about 1:30 a.m. with the mangled Jeep hauled out of a forested area of Mount Douglas Park. The driver, who was the lone occupant, was treated by paramedics and transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
“While the driver was fortunate to walk away, this type of collision was completely preventable,” said Anastasiades. “Impaired driving can lead to tragic consequences.”
Police across the province are setting up holiday road checks starting this weekend.
“Make a decision when you’re sober, before you get a few drinks into you, on how you’re going to get home,” said Const. Terri Healy of Victoria police. “Have a designated driver, call a taxi or a ride-hailing service, take transit.”
Healy said many people don’t realize that impaired driving carries hefty costs. “The driving suspension, the fines, impoundment fees, towing charges … all of that is much more than taking a taxi or finding another way home.”
Fines range from $600 up to $4,060, along with possible jail time and the costs of possible mandatory rehabilitation and installation of ignition lock devices for your vehicle.
Impaired drivers may also have to pay a driver-risk premium on top of their regular insurance, said ICBC.
And if you crash while driving impaired, you’re likely in breach of your insurance policy, meaning you could be personally responsible for 100% of the costs if you damage someone else’s property or injure them.
ICBC said on average every year on Vancouver Island, 11 people are killed and 310 injured in 550 impaired-driving-related crashes.
Last week, Nanaimo RCMP found a female driver passed out behind the wheel of her parked truck at a shopping mall with her baby and a dog in the backseat. The woman, who was involved in a hit-and-run earlier in the day in Parksville, gave two breath samples that registered 2.5 times the legal limit of .08.
“This incident is disturbing on many levels,” said Nanaimo RCMP Const. Gary O’Brien.
West Shore RCMP responded to an unconscious driver parked at a stranger’s house in a Colwood neighbourhood this week. The man was arrested for impaired operation of a vehicle.
Mike Farnworth, minister of public safety and solicitor general, said in a statement Friday that driving impaired is dangerous and a crime.
“Unfortunately, there are still those willing to take a chance with their own lives, the lives of their passengers and the lives of other road users,” he said. “If you have consumed alcohol, stay off our roads. If you instead choose to put yourself and others at risk, consider yourself warned: Police are out there with stepped-up enforcement.”
Tracy Crawford of Mothers Against Drunk Driving said there is no excuse for impaired driving given the number of alternatives available, from designated drivers to taxis and ride-hailing services. “You can plan your trip home responsibly before you even leave home.”
Crawford worries that as people start celebrating their first Christmas in two years without travel bans and household restrictions on guests, more impaired drivers will get behind the wheel.
She said if you are having drinks with a person who wants to drive, “be responsible and take their keys away, offer to pay for a taxi.”
West Shore RCMP Cpl. Nancy Saggar said traffic units and front-line officers will be setting up several check stops in the West Shore to ensure drivers are sober starting this weekend and throughout the month.
dkloster@timescolonist.com
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