(File photo/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Impaired Driving

“You’re lucky you weren’t hurt”: drunk driver receives increased $2,000 fine

Jan 23, 2020 | 11:03 AM

A Prince Albert judge made sure that a man charged with impaired driving paid the full price – and perhaps a bit more – for the consequences of his actions.

The 34-year-old man from Fond du Lac had a blood alcohol reading of .150 at the time of the offence on Oct. 19 in Prince Albert. No one was hurt in the incident but the driver hit a parked vehicle.

“It’s not that you missed something, you should not have been driving in the first place,” Judge S. Schiefner told the man at his court hearing Wednesday.

According to federal regulations, the mandatory minimum fine for a blood alcohol level of .150 is $1,500, and jumps up to $2,000 if the reading is at .160. While acknowledging the man had stayed at the scene of the accident, and had apologized for what he had done, Judge Schiefner opted to impose a greater fine of $2,000, plus $600 in surcharges.

“You’re lucky you weren’t hurt,” Judge Schiefner said. “There was a serious accident.”

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In addition to the fines, and the damage he will ultimately pay for, the man was also told he cannot drive in Canada for one year.

According to SGI’s latest numbers, police reported 295 impaired driving offences in Saskatchewan last month, including 249 criminal charges.

In Prince Albert, there were 11 impaired driving offences in December, compared to 10 for the same month in 2018. Year-over-year though there were 28 fewer charges laid, which represented a nearly 18-per-cent decrease.

Robin Keays, President of the Prince Albert’s MADD chapter, acknowledged the hard work behind the scenes.

“I think it’s just basically that we are getting out there with more education and people are becoming more and more aware and people are reporting more and more,” she said.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell