Halifax police charged 18 impaired drivers in September – Halifax

Halifax Regional Police say they’ve charged 18 people with impaired driving-related offences throughout September.

This number is down from the 30 impaired drivers that were charged in August.

Police say 16 drivers were charged with impaired driving by alcohol, and two were issued driving suspensions for operating a vehicle while having consumed alcohol.

Police say blood alcohol concentrations among those who provided breath samples ranged from 90 to 290 milligram percentages.

In Canada, the legal limit is 80, but suspensions are issued between 50 and 80 in Nova Scotia, according to the province website.

Halifax police say five drivers blew at least twice the legal limit.

One driver refused to provide a breath sample and was charged an additional offence of refusal.

The province says individuals who are convicted of impaired driving of having a blood alcohol concentration over 80, will:

• be issued a minimum $1,000 fine
• be prohibited from driving in Canada for a minimum of one year
• have their licence revoked under N.S. law for a minimum of one year, and
• be subject to licence restoration requirements.

Police ask anyone who sees a potential impaired driver to call 9-1-1 and give the call taker the location, a description of the vehicle — colour, make and model, a licence plate number, the direction the vehicle was going and a description of the driver, when possible.

Police say these are signs of an impaired driver:

• driving unreasonably fast, slow or at an inconsistent speed
• drifting in and out of lanes
• tailgating and changing lanes frequently
• making exceptionally wide turns
• changing lanes or passing without sufficient clearance
• overshooting or stopping well before stop signs or stop lights
• disregarding signals and lights
• approaching signals or leaving intersections too quickly or slowly
• driving without headlights, failing to lower high beams or leaving turn signals on
• driving with windows open in cold or inclement weather.

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