COCHRANE— Cochrane RCMP came across an unusual situation on Highway 1 in the early morning hours of March 28.
At roughly 5 a.m., RCMP were dispatched to respond to a possible impaired driver travelling along the highway west of Calgary.
The individual, the members discovered, was driving a vehicle with only three tires.
At the same moment the call was being dispatched, an Alberta Sheriff, who is a member of Cochrane’s Integrated Traffic Unit, noticed the car pass by his post at the Petro Canada gas station just west of Calgary on Highway 1.
The vehicle was travelling approximately 55 kilometres an hour where the posted speed limit is 110 kilometres.
“That caught his attention,” said Cpl. Paul Ecker with the Cochrane RCMP. “When the car drove by, he noticed the sparks coming off the car. Like I said, this dispatch or this possible impaired is coming in at the exact same second. He pulled the car over and started dealing with the driver and there was some pretty obvious signs of impairment.”
Cst. Poley, another Cochrane RCMP member, happened to be close by and came to aid the Sheriff with the traffic stop.
After speaking with the driver, the officers discovered the 45-year-old Calgarian was actually heading to Calgary after a night out with some friends, despite travelling away from the City on the highway.
The driver was also unaware that he was driving a vehicle with only three tires.
Cst. Poley issued a blood alcohol screening test, which the driver failed.
The individual was given a roadside sanction, his licence was suspended for 15 months, his car was seized and impounded for 30 days, he was fined $1,000 and he is on the hook for towing fees for the vehicle.
“It speaks volumes to the fact that impaired driving continues to be the leading criminal code cause of death in this country. It’s not murder or anything like that, it’s drunk driving. This guy is driving while his ability is so impaired that he’s not aware that he only has three tires on his car, and he can’t find the city of Calgary. In all likelihood, he had driven out of Calgary and was completely lost on a road that only goes two directions,” Cpl. Ecker said. “Whether we saved his life or somebody else’s life, we’ll never know, but the value of getting somebody like that off the road is hard to quantify.”
Alberta adopted the new impaired driving laws to combat the problem in December 2020. The new laws give officers “an extra tool” that they can use to levy penalties against impaired drivers during the initial stop.
The laws, Ecker said, keep offenders out of the court system, which frees up prosecutors to pursue other cases, while also giving first-time offenders a bit of a break, because they can face similar penalties to those they would receive in court, but will not get a criminal record as they would from a conviction in court.
Ecker explained that it reduces the need for prosecutors to “triage” their caseload.
“If there’s a day when there’s an impaired trial booked and an aggravated sexual assault booked to go to trial, the Crown is stuck, he’s going to proceed with the more serious trial. And if that means he has to dismiss a charge, then he has to. It’s not his fault, it’s just how the thing unfolds,” he said. “The province has just basically taken the provincial courts out of it.”
Ecker explained that the new laws do not prevent police from arresting and charging habitual drunk drivers, or individuals in cases where there are aggravating factors, like a collision, property damage, if minors are present or if the driver attempts to flee from police.
“That’s not what it’s intended at all. We would charge those people criminally. If you’re driving drunk with your 10-year-old in the car, we’re going to charge you criminally for that, no matter that it may be your first offense,” he said.
The new provincial sanctions are strictly for first-time offenders. It is a complicated situation, as many people, from all walks of life, break these particular laws, Ecker said, and often do not participate in other criminal activities.
“Impaired driving is one of those crimes that— I don’t want to say everybody commits— But people that are otherwise good people— They would never steal your money, they would never assault you, they would never commit another crime, but the people that would drive impaired, they come from all walks of life,” he said. “Hopefully they learn from this first instance, where fortunately nothing serious happened, nobody got hurt or killed, there was no property damage, they made the mistake and it gives us a chance to address it and correct their behaviour before they end up with a criminal record and they can’t take their kids to Disney Land in Florida because the US border is like ‘no, you’re an impaired driver, we don’t want you in our country.’”
Ecker said in the case of the driver arrested on March 28, he believes the individual was a first-time offender, driving on an otherwise deserted road and added that there was nothing in the case file to indicate that the individual was difficult for officers to deal with, which is why he was likely extended the courtesy of the provincial sanctions, and not charged criminally.
Over the course of his career, Ecker said, he has dealt with hundreds of impaired driving investigations, and it is a situation that often ends in tragedy. He cautioned drivers to be aware that the new laws in Canada, which allow officers to administer unconditional roadside alcohol screening tests, have greatly improved their chances at catching impaired drivers.
“We’re going to catch you and you’re going to pay. It’s going to cost you at the side of the road, and it’s going to cost you in the years to come when your insurance goes up. All of that aside, in my career I’ve done, I’m going to guess, somewhere between two or three hundred impaired driving investigations, and you’re going to kill somebody. I’m pretty sick in life of doing NOKs [next of kin notifications], and telling people that mom or dad, or their son is not coming home because of an impaired driver,” he said. “Your absolute best-case scenario is that I find you and take away your car and drivers’ licence. Your worst-case scenario is that you end up in prison for a few years thinking about what you did.”
