RCMP unveil “Alexa’s Bus”

RCMP unveiled a new tool today to help them fight drunk driving.

The Mobile Road Safety Unit, called Alexa’s bus, is the result of campaigning and fundraising by the Middelaer family. They lost their daughter Alexa in 2008 when a drunk driver ran into her on the side of the road in Delta as she fed a horse.

“They’ve taken that tragedy and done such great things for the province.” Corporal John Graham says “They’ve sat with politician and bureaucrats and explained the problems and got people united against impaired driving in our province.”

The $300,000 dollars for the bus was raised by the Middelaers with the Federal Government contributing $100k and the province chipping in $40k. Numerous companies and suppliers donated time and services.

The outfitted Winnebago is a police station on wheels, which Corporal Graham says has big benefits in Northern BC.

“If we are in a rural setting, it allows us to process a driver immediately without travelling 40-60 minutes back to an office. We are able to do that impaired driving criminal investigation processing instantly on the side of the road.”

Since the 90 day roadside suspension (IRP) penalties came into effect in 2010, actual criminal convictions have fallen sharply.

But Graham says because a person is only allowed one 90 day suspension, those numbers should start correcting themselves.

“If you look at the number of 90 day IRP’s that have been given out over the past 2-3 years… you are going to have a lull in the courts for 3-4 years, that lull is coming to an end and we should be proceeding with more criminal investigations. So a tool like this is extremely necessary for the province.”

The bus features two quiet rooms for drivers to contact legal counsel via phone and a dark room for drug impaired driver evaluations. It also features an educational component and will tour schools. It will be deployed across the province but will start its first tour of duty here in Northern BC.