Impaired driving incidents troubling for M.L. RCMP

This past weekend’s news of several serious incidents of impaired driving in Meadow Lake is a trend that is both discouraging and frustrating to local police, according to Sgt. Ryan How.

He said impaired driving is a serious and ongoing issue in the region. Last weekend, six people were injured in one incident, a man was struck in another, and the driver in the third case had a blood alcohol reading of .32 – four times the legal limit. 

“From a policing perspective and living in Meadow Lake, it’s infuriating to see this still going on,” How said. “Our members are extremely busy here, they would love to be out patrolling as much as possible to try and mitigate this and get the message out, but it’s far beyond education at this point – everybody knows the consequences, from legal implications to potentially being fatal.”

As for high risk areas in the region, How said that anywhere outside of the city core is a challenge to patrol.

“We know that people generally avoid the city, because that’s where the highest concentration of police are,” he said. “The rural areas pose obvious problems for patrolling depending on where our service calls are.”

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How said residents of the area are typically quite diligent when it comes to reporting any suspicious or hazardous situations to police. He said it’s not always impaired driving once officers arrive on scene – it has been tired drivers or people who are texting – but it does help a great deal in keeping others safe.

“We get a lot of calls, and we do appreciate getting them,” he said.  “Any time the public sees dangerous or what they believe is erratic driving, we ask that they call us, not just with traffic complaints, it really helps us.”

How also commended the positive partnership with the very active local Mothers Against Drunk Driving chapter. He said the group does a great deal of work, including check stops and campaigns, and there is a dedicated RCMP liaison that works with chapter regularly.

Residents are encouraged to call 911 if they see a suspected drunk driver.

kathy.gallant@jpbg.ca  

On Twitter @ReporterKath