Northern police detachment arrests two impaired drivers within minutes

Efforts to reduce impaired driving in the northeast seem to be working in some communities – provincial police say stats are still high.

Ontario Provincial Police’s Almaguin Highlands detachment arrested two impaired drivers within minutes of each other earlier this month.

An early morning crash

On Sunday, May 11, at about 1:30 a.m., officers responded to a single-vehicle collision on Highway 518 West in McMurrich-Monteith.

“Through investigation, the driver was arrested for impaired driving and transported to a nearby detachment for further testing,” OPP said in a news release.

As a result, the driver, a 40-year-old local man, has been charged with driving while under suspension, driving without insurance and three other administrative offences under the Highway Traffic Act, along with two impaired driving charges – including having a blood alcohol concentration of more than 80.

Minutes later

Only “several minutes later,” OPP said that officers conducted a traffic stop on Highway 11 in Laurier Township.

Further investigation resulted in the driver being arrested for impaired operation.

The second driver, a 39-year-old woman from Cochrane, was charged with operation while impaired by drugs, failure or refusal to comply with a demand, driving without insurance and failing to surrender a vehicle permit.

In addition to the charges, both motorists also received a 90-day administrative driver’s licence suspension, and the vehicles involved were impounded for seven days at the owner’s expense.

Both accused were released and are scheduled to appear in court in Sundridge on June 12.

‘Make the call’

The OPP urged the public to report suspected impaired drivers.

“If you see a possible impaired driver on our roadways, waterways, or trails, please ‘Make the call,’ and dial 911 as impaired driving never ends well,” OPP said in its news release.

“Plan a way to get home safely.”