VICTORIA -- Saanich police say a woman has been charged with impaired driving after her vehicle was reportedly spotted driving across traffic and into a bicycle trail Wednesday.
Witnesses told police that the vehicle was driving erratically on Interurban Road near Hector Road, including driving into oncoming traffic lanes on the street around 4:20 p.m.
As officers were en route to the location, another witness called to say that they had just seen a vehicle crash in the 5500-block of West Saanich Road.
When officers arrived, they saw that a vehicle was up against a fence on the Interurban Rail Trail. Police believe that the car crossed opposing traffic lanes before driving off the road, crashing through a BC Transit bus post and then finally coming to rest on the fence on the side of the pedestrian trail.
“Fortunately, there were no pedestrians or cyclists on that part of the trail at the time the collision,” said Saanich police in a release Thursday.
Officers approached the driver of the vehicle and performed a roadside screening test. Police say the driver, a 59-year-old woman, failed the screening test and had a blood alcohol level that exceeded 80 milligrams, or more than double the legal limit.
The woman was then charged with impaired driving.
“We would like to thank the public for reporting this driver to us in a timely manner,” said Const. Markus Anastasiades.
“As this took place during the evening commute, and in poor weather conditions, this incident posed serious safety risks to other motorists, pedestrians and cyclists,” he said.
