Impaired drivers are apparently still not getting the message, as evidenced by Alberta RCMP figures released after the long weekend.
K-Division RCMP officers patrolling provincial streets and highways in Alberta apprehended 165 impaired drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol from May 20 to 23. Last year, 101 impaired drivers were caught on the long weekend.
“The frustrating part is here in Alberta, RCMP removed 165 drivers. That’s almost two per hour. And that’s too many. One’s too many. It’s actually quite sad,” said Sgt. Darrin Turnbull of Alberta RCMP Traffic Services.
“We all know the consequences, yet people are still doing it. What does it take for people to realize it has to end?”
The policing blitz included six checkstops in the Cochrane RCMP detachment area, in places such as Bighorn, Kananaskis, Rocky View County, and Cochrane. Approximately 600 vehicles were screened with 14 impaired drivers being removed from the road, according to an RCMP press release. The release stated one motorist was found driving with a suspended license and a domestic violence offender was identified and arrested.
Additionally, one motorist was found to be driving with a suspended license and one domestic violence offender was identified and arrested.
Turnbull said mandatory alcohol screening, which came into effect in 2018, has been a game-changer in the RCMP’s efforts to get impaired drivers off the roads.
Every person pulled over has to provide a sample under the new rules. Reasonable suspicion is no longer required.
“So whether it’s 9 a.m. on Sunday morning and grandma’s on the way to church, or it’s Friday night outside the bar in Cochrane, it doesn’t matter – everybody provides a breath sample,” he said.
This not only helps police catch impaired drivers, but it frees up their time to be out on patrol, as the paperwork involved is significantly reduced.
The other recent change that has improved surveillance efforts is what Turnbull calls immediate roadside sanctions, which came into effect in 2020.
In the old system, he said officers would be off the road for an entire shift processing paperwork for one offense. The new system is much more streamlined.
“We can deal with all of that at the side of the road, give them a roadside sanction, and I can deal with that fellow and be done with him in about two hours,” he said, referencing a recent night in town when one officer removed three impaired drivers.
“In the past, they would’ve caught the first driver, then been busy in the office and the next two would have been out there driving,” Turnbull said.
A Cochrane RCMP officer was taken to hospital after being struck by a drunk driver fleeing a checkstop on Friday evening of the long weekend. He was released Sunday.
The checkstop was underway on Glenbow Drive when William Richard Kinning, 39, of Cochrane, pulled up around 11:50 p.m. The officer began speaking with the man, who then accelerated the vehicle, striking the officer as he fled.
A second officer had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit.
The vehicle was seen entering the Sunset neighbourhood, where additional officers from Cochrane and Stoney Nakoda RCMP were called in to secure and search the area.
William Richard Kinning, 39, of Cochrane, has been charged with five separate offences
In a release, RCMP said that in Alberta, at least three people were killed as a result of impaired driving over the long weekend.
“From May 16 to 23 alone, there were five motor vehicle collisions resulting in the loss of six lives. Three of these collisions were confirmed to involve impairment,” stated Insp. Chris Romanchych of Alberta RCMP Traffic Services.
As well, 2,804 traffic safety violation tickets were issued with 1,280 motorists being written up for exceeding the speed limit, 74 for distracted driving, and another 66 for the improper use of vehicle safety restraints.
