By Daryl Major

RCMP plan to be present as revellers ring in new year

Dec 31, 2016 | 9:45 AM

NANAIMO —  If you’re celebrating New Year’s Eve and someone offers you one for the road, it would be a good idea to turn it down.

Saturday is the last big night for the RCMP’s annual drinking and driving Counterattack campaign. Cpl. Mike Elston with Central Island Traffic Services won’t say when or where the checkstops will be, but does say there will be increased enforcement.

“There will be members out not only from central island traffic side but also the general duty side in all of the detachment areas,” said Elston. “When we look at central island we’re talking mainly about Nanaimo, Oceanside, Port Alberni and the west coast out to Tofino-Ucluelet.”

As old as the message is that drinking and driving is a bad idea, Elston says a lot of people still don’t know even the minimum penalties.

“If you get stopped and are found to be over the limit at roadside you will receive a 90 day driving prohibition and your vehicle will be impounded for 30 days.”

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“You will then have to pay fees in order to get your driver’s licence back and you have to pay all tow fees as well,” he said.

The costs are even higher if you’re involved in a crash, with Elston noting that vehicle insurance will not cover you.

“It is amazing how it impacts people’s lives,” said Elston. “I’ve had too many conversations with people who are trying to figure out how they can fix what was done. And there is no fix.”

Elston says numbers for their check-stops so far this month are neither better nor worse than usual.

There will also be roving RCMP patrols in downtown Nanaimo Saturday evening as officers carry out their Bar Watch campaign.