Five impaired drivers stopped within seven hours

RCMP removed five impaired drivers from the road within seven hours on Canada Day in Lake Country.

Between 7 p.m. July 1 and 2 a.m. July 2, Mounties conducted two CounterAttack road checks to target impaired drivers.

During that time, five drivers were issued 90-day driving suspensions and had their vehicles impounded for 30 days.

These stops do not include the UTV fatality officers responded to in which a 34-year-old man died and another 34-year-old man was arrested for impaired operation causing death.

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Mounties across B.C. are cracking down on impaired drivers this month as part of the Summer CounterAttack Impaired Driving Campaign.

“Being on highway and traffic patrol for as long as I have been, you go to too many fatalities and crashes that resulted from one decision, the decision to drink and drive, that could have easily been avoided,” said Cst. Owen Hazelwood, Traffic Services Officer for the Lake Country RCMP.

“If drivers can’t make that decision for themselves, I’m happy to make it for them.”

RCMP also reminds people that operating any motorized vehicle or vessel, including an automobile on the road, a boat on a lake or an all-terrain vehicle on a trail, while impaired by drugs or alcohol is an offence under the Criminal Code and the Motor Vehicle Act.

Mounties remind people not to drink or use drugs before getting behind the wheel, and to plan ahead to have a sober driver to get them home from summer activities involving alcohol.

Lake Country RCMP officers will continue to conduct Summer CounterAttack roadside checks through the month to get impaired drivers off the roads, lakes and trails.