OPP charge driver after crash on Highway 17 in Serpent River

An undated image of an Ontario Provincial Police vehicle pulled over to the side of a roadway. (File photo/Supplied/Ontario Provincial Police)

A 39-year-old woman from Serpent River First Nation is facing impaired driving charges after a crash on Highway 17 over the weekend.

Ontario Provincial Police responded to the collision on the morning of April 18.

At approximately 8:30 a.m., officers received a report of a single motor vehicle crash involving a white car that had left Highway 17 and entered an embankment within the First Nation community.

OPP said that when officers arrived at the scene, however, the vehicle was no longer there.

“The vehicle had been removed from the scene prior to police arrival and was later observed turning into a driveway on Rio Subdivision Road,” OPP said in a news release.

Police said that during their interaction with the woman, officers determined that she had consumed an intoxicating substance.

“The driver was arrested and subsequently evaluated by an OPP drug recognition evaluator,” said police.

“The OPP has highly trained DRE officers who are skilled in the detection and investigation of drug impaired drivers.”

Based on the evaluation, the woman was charged with impaired driving – the specific charge relates to operation while impaired by drugs.

In addition to the charge, under provincial law the motorist’s driver’s licence was automatically suspended for 90 days and the vehicle was impounded.

The accused was released and is scheduled to appear in court in Elliot Lake on June 11.

Report impaired drivers

The provincial police service used the incident the public that reporting suspected impaired drivers remains a critical tool for road safety.

Police said should you observe a suspected impaired driver, please call 911 or contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122.