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Police in North Van put brakes on drunk motorhome driver

The woman, who was also prohibited from driving, was one of nine motorists parked for impaired driving over Thanksgiving weekend in North Vancouver.
drunk-driver-motorhome
Police put the parking brake on an impaired motorhome driver who ran into a median in North Vancouver.

North Vancouver RCMP hauled nine impaired drivers off the road over the Thanksgiving weekend, including one who hit a median with a motorhome while driving erratically in the middle of the day.

Police officers were called to the 700-block of Second Street West around noon on Sunday (Oct. 9) after a witness reported that an erratic driver of a motorhome had hit a cement barrier separating the road from a bicycle lane.

Police took the driver – a woman in her 40s – back to the detachment to provide a breath sample after becoming suspicious she was impaired.

There, the woman blew Breathalyzer readings of 210 and 240 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millitres of blood – more than twice the legal limit.

Const. Mansoor Sahak, spokesman for the North Vancouver RCMP detachment, added the woman was also a prohibited driver and the motorhome she was driving was uninsured.

Police did not have any information about whether the woman was living in the motorhome.

Police have recommended a criminal charge of impaired driving.

The incident comes just weeks after another woman drove a motorhome the wrong way down Highway 1 in West Vancouver, resulting in a multi-vehicle accident that sent six people – including the driver – to hospital. West Vancouver Police are still investigating the cause of that crash. It also comes just a week after North Vancouver RCMP stopped an impaired driver from heading into oncoming traffic on the Upper Levels Highway.

Meanwhile, North Vancouver RCMP also handed out some roadside suspensions to patrons who had been making overly merry at the Brewhalla beer and music festival at the Shipyards District on Friday evening before getting behind the wheel.

Other drivers were nabbed in stepped up enforcement against impaired driving over the long weekend – traditionally one of the times when there are more impaired drivers behind the wheel, said Sahak.

In addition to the motorhome driver, two drivers were handed 90-day driving bans for failing roadside screenings, and three were handed three-day suspensions. Two drivers were handed 24-hour suspensions, and one was handed a 12-hour suspension.

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