‘Completely preventable’: Saanich police respond to drunk driver who drove RV off cliff

An RV with a single occupant drove off an embankment and was saved by a large tree which stopped the vehicle on Friday morning.

At around 10:30 a.m. on December 9th, Saanich Police officers responded to a report that an RV had driven off a cliff in the 1400-block of Charlton Road. 

Police say the driver was alone in the vehicle and only suffered minor injuries. He was also believed to be impaired while driving the RV. 

According to police, once on the scene, officers located the driver near the vehicle and gave him a breath test, which he failed. 

He was given a 90-day driving prohibition which came into effect immediately. 

As for the RV, it had to be carefully removed by a towing company and it is now impounded for 30 days. 

“The driver was fortunate that a large tree stopped the RV from falling further down the cliff, which would have likely resulted in more serious injuries,” said Cst. Markus Anastasiades, Public Information and Communications Officer.

Police say that driving impaired is completely preventable, but despite this, they see motorists continuously driving under the influence at all times of day.

Police across the CRD have impaired driving road checks happening all December long to try to intercept impaired drivers. Their goal is to prevent collisions, injuries and deaths.