(Chilliwack Times) – A criminal investigation has been launched after an off-duty RCMP officer suspected of impaired driving crashed his vehicle into a ditch in Chilliwack early Sunday morning.
The male officer was given an immediate 90-day roadside prohibition following the accident and his vehicle was impounded for 30 days.
Criminal and internal RCMP investigations have also been launched, according to RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Annie Linteau.
Ninety-day driving prohibitions are imposed on those suspected of impaired driving who refuse a breath test or blow over 0.08 on a breathalyzer test.
Linteau said officers who arrived at the site of the accident, on Yale near Latimer Road, immediately began an impaireddriving investigation.
The officer, whose name has not been released, was identified as a member of the Upper Fraser Valley regional detachment.
Impaired cases are a lot more complicated than that. Do some research.
http://www.defencelaw.com/drinking-driving.html
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Under ideal circumstances police come across a vehicle weaving along the highway, pull it over, observe signs of intoxication, and administer a Breathlyzer test. Two charges are then laid although the driver is only convicted on one or the other: Impaired Driving, based on the driving that the police observed and Drive Over .08 based on the Breathalyzer test result. If for some reason the Breathalyzer reading is disallowed a conviction may still be registered based on the driving evidence.
However, as it appears that the police arrived on the scene to find this guy already in the ditch they won’t have any driving evidence to introduce in court. They would likely attempt to backtrack the drivers course and actions prior to him hitting the ditch. He may have left a party or bar and there may be witnesses who could provide evidence of impairment at the party or bar or as he drove away. If the police received a call from one or more people about a vehicle entering the ditch they would also need to locate the callers and obtain statements. Given the circumstances described in this news item its not surprising that there would be follow-up work to be done and the actual laying of the charges would be delayed until then. The same thing happens when a suspected impaired driver is unable to provide a breath sample due to injuries sustained. Blood samples are often taken and the lab requires some time to establish a blood alcohol reading from the samples. Charges are generally not laid until the result is in.
Important also to note that a delay in laying the charges does not effect the 90-day driving suspension.
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