MORE drunk drivers were pulled off the North Shore roads by police in December than in the previous year.
A total of 74 people were handed roadside suspensions between Dec. 1 and Jan. 1, compared to 66 people last year.
The increase in the numbers of drunk drivers nabbed by police on the North Shore reflects a trend seen across the Lower Mainland, where 30 per cent more drivers were pulled over in the past two months than in the same time period last year.
Some of those numbers may have been driven by a false impression that police wouldn't be out enforcing drunk-driving laws in the wake of recent court decisions, said Cpl. Richard De Jong, spokesman for the North Vancouver RCMP.
"People were taking risks," said De Jong. "The perception was (because of the court rulings) police don't have the tools to remove drivers from the road. . . . In fact we still do."
Most of the drivers - 60 of them - handed roadside suspensions were in North Vancouver. Of those, 11 people can expect to face criminal charges of driving while impaired and/or driving with a blood alcohol level of more than .08. That's compared to three people last year. Three people were also handed suspensions for driving while impaired by drugs.
In West Vancouver, 14 people were nabbed for impaired driving. Most of them received either 24-hour or three-day driving suspensions. Five people will also face criminal charges for impaired driving.
In addition, one new driver was handed a 12-hour suspension, which is handed out if a new driver has consumed any alcohol at all.
Police also made three seizures of marijuana, which included one arrest.
The latest statistics for the holiday season come after recent court decisions that have meant drivers who blow a fail on roadside screening devices will no longer get immediate 90-day driving suspensions.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Jon Sigurdson ruled at the beginning of December that B.C.'s harshest administrative penalties for drunk drivers violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms because they allow police to impose criminal-style penalties without giving drivers a chance to appeal.
On Dec. 23, Sigurdson agreed to a request to put off declaring the law invalid for six months, in order to give the government time to come up with an appeal process.
The less onerous administrative penalties for those who blow between .05 and .08 and 90-day suspensions for those who refuse to blow into a screening device are still in force. Since the court ruling struck down part of the legislation, many people - including one West Vancouver Realtor - have appealed their 90-day penalties and asked that their licences be restored. The judge has yet to rule on what will happen to them.
