Updated:
A 24-year-old Kamloops man has been issued a 90-day driving ban after a crash with two Operations Red Nose drivers on New Years Eve, where the person responsible for the crash was suspected to be impaired.
Red Nose drivers in two cars, one being a green Subaru Forester and the other a blue Ford Focus, were hit by a suspected drunk driver on the Trans-Canada Highway on New Years Eve. The crash happened at 11:57 p.m. on the Trans-Canada Highway near Grand Boulevard, with the vehicles involved heading eastbound.
“They hit the first escort vehicle, causing them to leave the road. And then they continued on to speed and rear-end the client’s vehicle,” Kamloops Operation Red Nose coordinator Katie Klassen says, noting the first vehicle had just the driver and the second had the driver and three occupants.
Southeast District RCMP Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey says the suspect, driving in a black Dodge Ram 1500 pickup, had “signs and symptoms of alcohol intoxication,” according to an officer at the scene. That driver then refused to give a breath sample when demanded, and was issued a 90-day driving ban and charged with driving without due care and attention under the Motor Vehicle Act.
The truck driver had minor injuries in the crash, and needed to be extricated after going down an embankment. Police say his truck went across the westbound lanes of Highway 1 before going off the road.
“This incident serves as a somber reminder to find a safe and sober ride home. Thankfully no one was seriously injured as a result of this entirely preventable collision, which could have had a deadly outcome,” O’Donaghey says.
Klassen says in her 10 years as a coordinator for Operation Red Nose, this is the most serious incident that has happened with drivers, and she says she hasn’t of drivers being hit by a suspected impaired driver before this.
She was asked about the irony of the situation, and says it’s unfortunate.
“This is why our volunteers are out there, being out until 3 or 4 in the morning is to make sure they do keep the streets safe, and that there is an option for everyone to get home safely,” Klassen says. “There’s taxi companies, there’s other designated driving companies as well. There’s lots of options out there and there should be no excuse for anyone to drive impaired out there.”
