2 RCMP vehicles hit by allegedly impaired drivers in separate crashes
Officer calls it a ‘new one’ in his 2 decades of experience
Saskatchewan RCMP say two police cruisers were damaged in separate crashes involving impaired drivers this week. No injuries were reported.
"I've been an RCMP officer for more than 48 years, and this is a new one — two impaired drivers striking police vehicles in a matter of days," Supt. Grant St. Germaine, officer in charge of Saskatchewan RCMP traffic services, said in a news release Friday.
RCMP say the first crash happened on May 19 in Tisdale. RCMP received a report of an erratic driver and found the vehicle parked outside a business.
The officer activated their emergency lights and pulled behind it. The vehicle reversed, striking the police vehicle, the release says.
After an investigation, a woman was charged with impaired driving.
Two days later, on May 21, an officer was doing a curfew check at a home in Swift Current, RCMP say. He saw a vehicle with no lights on driving erratically. That vehicle struck the parked police cruiser. A man was charged with impaired driving.
That police vehicle is no longer drivable, according to the RCMP.
"What's not new is my frustration that some people just aren't getting the message: impaired driving is dangerous and can lead to tragic results," St. Germaine said.
The incidents come after Canada Road Safety Week enforcement, which RCMP did from May 13 to May 19 across the province.
More than 6,600 vehicles were stopped and officers laid 41 alcohol-related charges during that week. They also made three drug-related charges.
Officers also issued 126 roadside suspensions: 59 for recent alcohol consumption and 67 for recent drug consumption.
"Thirty-three people have already lost their lives on roads in Saskatchewan RCMP jurisdiction this year. Not all of them are impaired driving-related but please — for your own safety and the safety of others on the road — make smart choices," St. Germaine said in the release.
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