‘Totally preventable:’ drug-impaired drivers a recurring issue on Vancouver Island

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Drug impairment made up 18 of the 229 total driving prohibitions issued province wide, including four on Vancouver Island.

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The South Coast, made up of Metro Vancouver, Sea to Sky, the Sunshine Coast and Fraser Valley, had the highest impaired driving prohibitions with 97.

Last summer, 626 drivers were caught impaired, including 131 on Vancouver Island, with 17 impairments related to drugs.

The 2025 numbers also included the month of August.

McLaughlin said testing for drug impairment differs slightly compared to alcohol screenings but starts with their standardized field sobriety test.

“Basically, you get out of your vehicle, and we take you through a series of physical tests to see if you may be impaired by drugs. If that doesn’t go well, if the driver fails, then we bring in a drug recognition expert. We can take blood and detect whether or what sort of drug is in your system.”

He said impaired drivers will often downplay the amount of drugs or alcohol in their system or deny they’ve been imbibing at all.

“That’s usually what we expect with people who are impaired. And then, of course, when we do our testing, we find it’s much more than they admitted to.”

McLaughlin said there’s simply no excuse to drive impaired in today’s day and age, with multiple ways to arrange a safe and sober ride home.

“With those major events that are happening around Vancouver Island, we really encourage people to plan ahead. Impaired driving is totally preventable. It’s one of those things that you can avoid with a bare minimum of planning. Take an alternative form of transportation, or get a responsible friend to drive.”

He said they’ll be turning their focus to their distracted driving and seatbelt campaigns heading into the fall, while they continue to look for impaired drivers year-round.

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