B.C. driver who tried to apprehend suspected impaired driver was impaired: RCMP

Oceanside RCMP officers would issue two more roadside driving prohibitions and impoundments that night, including for a driver who refused a roadside breathalyzer and a driver who the breath test after a single-vehicle crash.

Mounties on Vancouver Island say a 50-year-old motorist who tried to apprehend a suspected impaired driver on New Year's Eve, was, in fact, impaired and was issued a 90-day driving prohibition by police.

The first driver, meanwhile, who was under investigation for impaired operation of a motor vehicle, was found to be sober but struggling to navigate in the darkness.

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

Police say the suspected impaired driver had pulled over to the side of Fern Road near Berwick Road, where the second driver arrived and tried to intervene to prevent them from driving away.

"When officers arrived, they smelled alcohol on the breath of the second driver and administered a roadside alcohol screening test, which the driver failed," according to the RCMP statement.

The second driver was handed an immediate 90-day driving prohibition and their vehicle was impounded for 30 days, while investigators determined the first driver was sober but having trouble driving in the dark, police said.

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

"Unfortunately, there are many people who still believe it is OK to drink and drive," Sgt. Shane Worth of the Oceanside RCMP said in the statement.

"Impaired driving is an offence, it is dangerous to everyone using the roads and our officers are targeting impaired drivers every day of the year to take them off the street."