Fatalities dropping as result of new impaired driving law
By Nelson Daily Staff
The immediate penalties that impaired drivers face are the reason behind the early success of the Immediate Roadside Prohibition legislation, say the BC RCMP.
“From October 2010 to January 2011 we’ve seen about a 40 per cent drop province-wide in alcohol related traffic fatalities, compared to the five year historical average,” said Superintendent Norm Gaumont, head of Traffic Services for the RCMP’s Lower Mainland District Regional Police Service. “These are historic low numbers.”
“We saw the drop as soon as the legislation came into effect,” said Supt. Gaumont.
Yesterday the BC Association of Chiefs of Police stated its support for the IRP legislation, on behalf of all police officers province-wide. The Association indicated that deaths related to impaired driving are down 23 per cent from the same period last year.
“The new law is working. And it’s effective because drivers face immediate sanctions. They don’t want to have their car impounded, and they don’t want to pay those fines,” says Supt. Gaumont.
