BC driver who tried to stop suspect driver was drunk: RCMP

Vancouver Island cops say a 50-year-old motorist who tried to pull over a suspicious driver on New Year’s Eve was actually drunk and police handed him a 90-day driving ban.

Meanwhile, the first driver, who was being investigated for impaired driving, was sober but had difficulty driving in the dark.

The incident occurred around 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 31, when a possible drunk driver was reported to police in Qualicum Beach, according to a Friday statement from the Oceanside RCMP detachment.

Police say the suspect driver had pulled over to the side of Fern Road near Berwick Road, where the second driver arrived and attempted to intervene to stop them from driving away.

“When officers arrived, they smelled alcohol on the second driver’s breath and performed a roadside alcohol test, which the driver failed,” according to the RCMP statement.

The second driver was given an immediate 90-day driving ban and his vehicle was impounded for 30 days, while investigators determined the first driver was sober but had trouble driving in the dark, police said.

Oceanside RCMP officers would issue two more driving bans and impoundments that night, including for a driver who refused a roadside breathalyzer and a driver who failed a breathalyzer test after a single-vehicle accident.

“Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who still believe it’s OK to drink and drive,” said Sgt. Shane Worth of the Oceanside RCMP said in the statement.

“Drink driving is a crime, it is dangerous for everyone who uses the roads and our officers are targeting drink drivers every day of the year to get them off the road.”