**** RCMP Media Release
RCMP stops sixteen impaired drivers in HRM over long weekend
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, RCMP officers in the Halifax Regional Municipality arrested two impaired drivers and suspended the licences of an additional fourteen drivers.
On October 11, at approximately 5:55 p.m., RCMP Halifax Regional Detachment responded to a report of a driver who appeared to be passed out behind the wheel of a Hyundai Santa Fe. The vehicle was stopped in an intersection on Sackville Dr. in Lower Sackville. Upon arrival, the man displayed severe signs of impairment. He refused to comply with the demand of a standard field sobriety test, and was arrested for Operation while Impaired by Drug.
That same evening, between 9:10 p.m. and 11:40 p.m., RCMP officers stopped three drivers who provided breath samples into an approved screening device (ASD) with results over the Provincial limit of 50 mg%.
Throughout the day of October 12, traffic stops completed by RCMP officers involved four other drivers who provided breath samples into an ASD with results over the Provincial limit of 50 mg%.
On October 13, between 10:50 a.m. and 11:20 p.m., another six drivers provided breath samples that yielded results over the 50 mg% Provincial limit.
On October 14, at approximately 3:10 p.m., an officer from the RCMP Halifax Regional Detachment Traffic Unit completed a traffic stop on a Ford Fusion near the intersection of Windmill Rd. and Ralston Ave. in Dartmouth. The driver, a 27-year-old Middle Sackville man, provided a roadside breath sample into an ASD which resulted in a “fail”. He was arrested and transported to the Lower Sackville RCMP Detachment where he provided breath samples that registered 110 mg% and 100 mg%.
Also, at 3:10 p.m., a second RCMP officer, this time in the Timberlea area, stopped a sport utility vehicle travelling on Timberlea Village Parkway. The driver, a 31-year-old Timberlea woman, provided a breath sample into an ASD with results over the Provincial limit of 50 mg%.
The two drivers arrested for Impaired Operation of a Conveyance were later released and are both scheduled to appear in court at later dates. All fourteen drivers with blood alcohol concentrations between 50 mg% and 80 mg% were issued immediate driving suspensions.
If you suspect an impaired driver, it’s an emergency; call 911.
