Vancouver Police are releasing the results of the first weekend of drinking and driving roadblocks in the City of Vancouver.
Last Friday, Justice Minister Shirley Bond and Chief Constable Jamie Graham announced that police would be out in force through the summer and that if you made the choice to drink and drive you would be caught.
I am here to tell you today that despite the reminder, all of the media coverage on the changes to the Immediate Roadside Suspension rules, and recent pleas from family members of those who have been killed by drunk drivers, in the first three nights of our campaign we have caught more drunk drivers than last year and taken them off the road.
Last year, in the first three nights we issued 131 violation tickets and had 13 people fail their roadside tests. This year, in the same time period, we have issued 259 violation tickets and had 28 people fail roadside tests.
I am here to tell you again, all summer long, through strategically placed road checks, police will be looking for impaired drivers. If you choose to drink and drive you could lose your car or, worse, kill yourself or someone else. No Vancouver Police officer wants to tell anyone that someone they loved was killed by a drunk driver.
As Chief Graham said, you have been warned.
