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Drunk driver ticketed after wrong-way rollover

Nanaimo man crashes on Inland Island Highway near Qualicum Beach
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A 46-year-old Nanaimo man was cited for impaired driving by police after rolling his vehicle while driving the wrong way on the Inland Island Highway near Qualicum Beach, Oceanside RCMP said Thursday, Nov. 16, 2017.

The man, the lone passenger in the 2002 Oldsmobile, suffered “minor injuries,” but no other vehicles were involved in the incident, which occurred shortly after 7 a.m., RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Jesse Foreman said.

“It could have been a lot worse,” said Foreman.

He said RCMP initially received several reports of a motorist driving erratically, but as police initiated their response, additional calls came in reporting a car was traveling southbound in the northbound lanes of the four-lane, divided highway.

“The subsequent calls gave the same description, an Oldsmobile Alero,” Foreman said. “We stepped up our response when we got that information.”

Before RCMP arrived, another round of “multiple calls” came in through 911 dispatch at 7:28 a.m. that the vehicle had rolled over in the median near the bridge over French Creek, just south of the Highway 4 interchange.

“Members attending found minor injuries on the male,” said Foreman. “There was severe damage to the vehicle as it rolled over.”

Police administered a roadside sobriety screening test. When the man failed the test, he was charged under the motor vehicle act and issued an immediate 90-day driving prohibition, said Foreman.

— NEWS staff