By CHIEF ROBERT DUTTCHEN
Corman Park Police Service
This week, we’re rewinding to August 22, because there’s a lesson in it for everyone about making good choices.
Shortly after 10 p.m. that evening, Corman Park Police Service (CPPS) stopped a vehicle for failing to signal a turn. The driver, it turned out, held only a learner’s licence and was driving without a supervising driver in the vehicle — not ideal to begin with
Things got more complicated when police discovered the driver was also the subject of multiple outstanding arrest warrants.
At the roadside, the driver showed signs of impairment consistent with a central nervous system stimulant, suspected to be methamphetamine. A standardized field sobriety test followed, which the driver failed decisively. They were arrested, and their vehicle was seized. Naturally, they called a friend for a ride home.
That “safe ride” turned out to be nothing of the sort: the friend who arrived was also impaired, this time by cocaine, and was in fact facing his second drug-related impaired driving charge. So much for a safe ride home.
Both drivers were processed, both vehicles were impounded, and both received supplementary licence suspensions. Eventually, police tracked down a genuinely sober adult who could take responsibility for the pair. It’s worth repeating the obvious: the first requirement of being someone’s designated driver is sobriety. If you’ve been drinking or using drugs, you are not a safe ride — please don’t offer to be one.
On the afternoon of August 24, CPPS came across someone walking along Township Road 362 near Valley Road — technically a violation of The Traffic Safety Act. A quick records check turned up an outstanding warrant out of Saskatoon Police Service (SPS). After a call to SPS, the individual was transported to Saskatoon for processing.
Later that same evening, CPPS attempted to stop a vehicle heading west on Highway 16 toward Saskatoon. The driver decided to make a run for it instead — a decision that did not pay off, thanks to some timely help from above. SPS’s Aerial Support Unit, Air1, tracked the vehicle to an address in south Saskatoon. When it finally parked, SPS and CPPS units moved in together and took the driver into custody without further incident. He was found to be impaired, failing an approved screening device (ASD) test at the scene, and was taken to the Saskatoon RCMP detachment, where he provided two breath samples of 120 mg% — well over the legal limit. He was held in custody until sober enough to care for himself.
In the early hours of August 27, CPPS spotted a pickup truck travelling eastbound on Highway 16 near the Highway 11 interchange. It was drifting within its lane and moving well under the speed limit — both classic signs worth a closer look. A traffic stop confirmed the hunch: the driver admitted to having had four drinks. That admission carried extra weight, since he was a “new” driver under the graduated licensing program, where the tolerance for this kind of thing is essentially zero. An ASD test returned an “Alert” reading, resulting in a 60-day licence suspension and a three-day vehicle impoundment. Beyond those immediate consequences, an ASD “Alert” also affects a driver’s safety rating — meaning higher insurance premiums are likely in his future.
Finally, on August 30, CPPS stopped a vehicle on Highway 16 for a handful of equipment violations. A mandatory ASD demand at the roadside also returned an “Alert,” leading to a 72-hour licence suspension and vehicle impoundment. The driver was additionally issued an inspection ticket, meaning the vehicle will need to pass inspection for the equipment problems that got it pulled over in the first place — so this one cost more than just time.
Five incidents, one common thread: good choices matter, and so do the people we lean on when we’ve made a bad one. If a friend calls you for a ride home, be the sober friend who actually shows up — not the second impaired driver of the night.