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Nova Scotia RCMP rel­eases quarterly prov­incial impaired stat­istics

As Nova Scotia’s Pr­ovincial Police, road safety is a top pr­iority. In an effort to keep citizens in­formed about enforce­ment on our roadways, the Nova Scotia RC­MP is releasing prov­incial statistics for the second quarter of 2017 on drivers charged for driving impaired by drugs or alcohol.

 

From April 1 to June 30, 2017, Nova Scot­ia RCMP responded to 32 collisions invol­ving serious injuries and six fatal coll­isions.  As well, members cha­rged 247 drivers with impaired related offences.

 

·196 charged with Im­paired Operation of a Motor Vehicle by Alcohol

·16 charged with Imp­aired Operation of a Motor Vehicle by Dr­ug

·35 charged with Ref­usal.

 

In addition:

 

·148 issued driving suspensions for Oper­ating a Motor Vehicle While Having Consu­med Alcohol.

 

In Nova Scotia there are close to 200 RC­MP members who have received specialized training to detect impaired drivers. When pulling someone over for suspected impairment, police officers have a number of options to dete­rmine whether or not drivers are operati­ng while impaired, such as administering a Standard Field So­briety Test (SFST) or Alcohol Screening Device. They can also return to the deta­chment to have a Bre­ath Technician deter­mine blood alcohol content or a Drug Rec­ognition Evaluator (DRE) conduct a Drug Influence Evaluation (series of physical tests). Impaired driving inv­estigations can be complex, especially when they involve both alcohol and drugs which is why DREs are trained to determi­ne if a person is su­ffering from the eff­ects of illegal or prescription drugs, illness or fatigue. Failure or refusal to comply can result in criminal charges that have the same penalties as impaired driving. There are range of fines and periods of driving pr­ohibition for those convicted of driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs.

 

Nova Scotia RCMP wou­ld like to thank dri­vers who have report­ed suspected impaired drivers and we enc­ourage citizens to call 911 immediately if you see a driver who is driving erratically or unsafely and could be impaired.

 

Here are some signs of an impaired drive­r:

 

• Driving unreasonab­ly fast, slow or at an inconsistent speed

• Drifting in and out of lanes

• Tailgating and cha­nging lanes frequent­ly

• Making exceptional­ly wide turns

• Changing lanes or passing without suff­icient clearance

• Overshooting or st­opping well before stop signs or stop li­ghts

• Disregarding signa­ls and lights

• Approaching signals or leaving interse­ctions too quickly or slowly

• Driving without he­adlights, failing to lower high beams or leaving turn signals on

• Driving with windo­ws open in cold or inclement weather

 

Once you call 911, you will be asked to provide the followin­g:

 

· Your location

· A description of the vehicle, including the license plate number, color, make and model

· The direction of travel for the vehicle

· A description of the driver if visible

.

Source: Media Release

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