A Crossfield man is facing charges of impaired care and control of a motor vehicle following a weekend arrest by Stettler RCMP.
The RCMP passed the driver at the intersection of Township Road 364 and Highway 56 on their way to Byemoor, where the annual Bull-a-Rama was taking place, but received complaint about the driver roughly two hours later.
He was still at the same intersection when police returned, unconscious behind the wheel.
“Upon close inspection of the vehicle, the male driver was found to be at the back of his truck,” police reported. “There was a very strong odour of liquor coming from the male and he was unable to talk or walk.”
The man was taken to the Stettler RCMP detachment, where a blood alcohol test revealed the 45-year-old man to be more than three times the legal limit – he tested in with 240 mg per cent alcohol to 100 ml blood.
Considering the driver was there for at least two hours, and no alcohol was found in the vehicle, when the driver stopped at the intersection he would have been “way above that earlier,” according to Sgt. Duncan Babchuk, detachment commander.
The 1988 pickup truck was towed and seized for seven days.
“People obviously aren’t getting the message (about driving drunk),” Babchuk said.
Darryl Shayne Iverson was later released on recognizance and will appear in Stettler Provincial Court on June 12 to answer to a charge each of impaired care and control of a motor vehicle and impaired care and control of a motor vehicle over 0.08.
For the most part, Babchuk said the week and weekend was quiet, though with the arrival of persistent warmer weather, there is an expectation of an uptick in activity.
Move those vehicles
Police are on the lookout for abandoned vehicles, which under the provincial traffic act are any vehicle left stationary on provincial roads for more than 72 hours. These vehicles can be towed, at the owner’s expense, warned Babchuk.
Of particular concern for police are vehicles that are a hazard, either by virtue of being parked badly, not completely off the road, or blocking alleyways and lines of sight.
“We see vehicles in the winter that are snowed in, and vehicles with flat tires,” Babchuk said. “As far as we’re concerned, these vehicles are abandoned. If the licence plate is expired, we will tow them.”
In the winter, abandoned vehicles in town cause the narrowing of streets, as plows cannot clear the snow adequately to the side and are forced to plow around the vehicles.
In the spring, street sweeping activities are delayed or incomplete when the vehicles are left on the side of the road.
Vehicles that are considered a hazard can be towed immediately.
“If you want to leave a vehicle parked (for a length of time), move it to private property,” Babchuk said.
The town also has a bylaw that strengthens the provincial traffic act, requiring vehicle owners to not park their vehicle on town roads for more than 72 hours.
Babchuk also wished to remind residents that at no time is parking allowed in alleyways unless a delivery vehicle.