Sicamous RCMP put the brakes on four impaired drivers within a week around the Canada Day weekend. 

The blitz started on June 27 as an officer was conducting a sobriety check on the Trans-Canada Highway and attempted to stop a black sedan. 

"The driver continued slowly past the officer and turned onto Gill Avenue where they were stopped by the police," Sgt. Murray McNeil said in a media release. "A strong odour of liquor was then detected from the driver by the officer."

Two roadside breath samples were taken, both of which produced "fail" readings and resulted in the driver being issued a 90-day driving prohibition and their vehicle impounded for 30 days. Additionally, already prohibited from driving in B.C., the driver was arrested and given a court date for that charge. 

The second in the string of incidents happened just after midnight on June 28, when Sicamous RCMP received two calls about a Volkswagen with an Alberta plate "driving in a dangerous manner" while heading west on Highway 1 near Malakwa.

"The Revelstoke RCMP had two calls reporting the same vehicle as it drove dangerously prior to arriving in Malakwa," McNeil said, adding that a local officer located the VW turning off the highway onto Cambie Solsqua Road. "The driver displayed obvious signs of impairment while the back seat of the car was found to have a bag full of empty liquor cans."

After failing a roadside breath test, the driver was prohibited from driving for 90 days, had his driver's licence seized and the vehicle impounded for 30 days.

That was followed up the next day, June 29 at 11:30 p.m., when an RCMP member was driving in the Highway 97A roundabout when a black pickup towing a boat failed to yield to the police car and almost resulted in a collision. 

"The officer stopped the driver of the truck and noted open liquor containers in the boat," McNeil said in the release. "The driver was found to have a strong odour of liquor on his breath."

 The driver subsequently failed the breath test and received a 90-day driving prohibition and had the truck impounded for 30 days.

The fourth incident occurred on July 4 at 8:30 p.m., when police responded to a report of an impaired driver leaving a campground east of Sicamous on Highway 1. An officer located the vehicle driving on Main Street shortly after the call was received, with the driver exhibiting signs of impairment with a strong odour of liquor on them. 

After a breath sample resulted in a fail, that driver also got a 90-day suspension and 30-day vehicle impound.