From RCIPS

Ongoing traffic enforcement by the RCIPS resulted in a number of traffic related arrests and citations over the past week, including several DUIs.

There were 11 arrests for DUI between Monday, 29 January, and Monday, 5 February. During the same period, 66 motor vehicle collisions were reported, and 4 of the DUI arrests were as a result of one of these collisions. A few notable incidents over the past week are described below:

Shortly after 12AM on Saturday, 3 February, officers on duty on Shamrock Road in the vicinity of Grand Harbour Roundabout carrying out traffic checks, stopped a white Nissan Skyline and observed that the coupon was long out of date. As officers spoke to the driver they detected the scent of alcohol on his breath and a roadside breath test was conducted with a result of 0.117%. The driver, a man, aged 24 of George Town, also failed to provide a driver’s license and was arrested on suspicion of DUI, Driving Without Being Qualified, Driving Without Insurance, and Using a Vehicle with Expired Registration. He was later bailed.

On Saturday, 3 February, at about 7:30PM, officers conducting traffic checks on Linford Pierson Highway near the King’s Roundabout observed a vehicle travelling at almost 20 miles per hour over the speed limit. The vehicle was stopped by officers, however, as they approached the vehicle, the driver attempted to drive off, but was prevented from doing so by the officers. Upon being instructed to exit the vehicle, the driver was observed to be acting suspiciously. He was detained along with the male passenger of the vehicle. A search of the vehicle was conducted, which turned up multiple weapons including a knife and a machete. The officers also detected the strong scent of ganja emanating from the vehicle. The driver, a man aged 24 of George Town, was arrested on suspicion of Possession of an Offensive Weapon, Driving Under the Influence of Drugs, Consumption of Ganja, Driving Without Being Qualified, and other related offenses.

Shortly after 12AM on Monday, 5 February, officers responded to a report of a single-vehicle collision on North Sound Road south of the AL Thompson roundabout, where a vehicle had collided with a container off the roadway. The driver, who sustained no injuries, was observed to be unsteady on her feet and as such a roadside breath test was conducted. The woman, aged 28 of George Town, was arrested on suspicion of DUI with a blood alcohol content of 0.308%. She was later bailed.

“DUIs continue to be an area of concern for us, especially as we continue to see persons choosing to drive with blood alcohol levels as high as two times and sometimes over three times the legal limit,” said Inspector Ian Yearwood of the Traffic and Roads Policing Unit. “Drunk driving threatens all road users at any time of year, and our operations to combat this will continue. But we also carry out traffic enforcement operations throughout the week to address a variety of traffic violations. For example, this past Sunday we conducted traffic operations to address speeding on the Linford Pierson Highway, an issue about which we have received community complaints.”

This operation resulted in 19 Speeding Tickets, 5 Traffic Tickets, and 2 citations for excessive tint being issued. 6 people were also warned for intended prosecution for Dangerous Driving due to speeding.

“We believe that our presence on the roads week in and week out is a deterrent to those who are considering driving under the influence, speeding, or committing some other traffic violations. For those who do, we will continue to enforce these violations as they occur,” Inspector Yearwood added.

END

IMAGE: RCIPS FILE