267 impaired drivers nabbed on B.C. highways in December, police say

An impaired driving checkpoint on Vancouver Island is seen in this image handed out by BC Highway Patrol.

It was a busy December for BC Highway Patrol members taking impaired drivers off the road, Mounties say.

According to authorities, the squad caught 8.61 impaired drivers on average every day last month, or roughly one driver taken off the road every three hours.

The 267 roadside prohibitions handed out were part of BCHP’s winter impaired driving campaign, when more checkpoints go up around the province during the holiday season.

“The winter impaired driving campaign clearly shows that education is not enough for people who choose to drive while impaired,” said Supt. Mike Coyle, officer in charge of BCHP in a statement issued Thursday. “Nobody is surprised when they fail a roadside screening device and their vehicle is towed. Enforcement is a necessary follow-up to education.”

The roadside prohibition totals included 52 in the north district, 81 in southeast central, 45 in the Lower Mainland, 36 in southeast Kootenay and 53 on Vancouver Island.

BCHP noted that some regions, particularly on Vancouver Island and in Metro Vancouver, have large municipal police departments and RCMP traffic units nabbing impaired drivers and those numbers are not part of the data.

According to ICBC, on average 63 people die in crashes involving impaired driving in the province each year, and 21 per cent of fatal crashes are related to impaired driving.