ON Saturday, November 25 between midnight and 3 a.m., North Vancouver RCMP frontline members set up an impaired roadside check stop on the Second Narrows Bridge. Hundreds of vehicles were stopped and drivers’ sobriety checked.

Six impaired drivers were taken off the road, with one receiving a 90-day IRP (Immediate Roadside Prohibition), four getting three-day IRPs, and one being given a 24-hour prohibition. There were three more impaired drivers taken off the road earlier in the evening for a total of nine drivers who lost their licence Saturday evening.

Drivers subject to enforcement face the potential for vehicle impoundment, fines from $600 to $4,060, jail time, mandatory rehabilitation, or required installation of ignition interlock in their vehicle. If you crash while driving impaired, you’re likely in breach of your insurance policy. That means you could be personally responsible for 100 per cent of the costs if you damage someone else’s property or injure them. Find out more about the consequences here.

“Sadly, each year in B.C. on average, 61 people die in crashes involving impaired driving, according to ICBC road safety statistics,” said Constable Mansoor Sahak of the North Vancouver RCMP. “Even one impaired driver is one too many. The risk they represent is unacceptable, and that’s why we will continue to search for them and take them off the road.”

As part of North Vancouver RCMP’s road safety strategy, officers will be out in greater numbers during this holiday season, running CounterAttack road checks and looking for drivers who are under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs while behind the wheel.

If your holiday festivities involve any intoxicating substances, be sure to plan for a safe ride home by arranging a designated driver, calling a taxi or rideshare or taking transit, police say.