Noon Hour ImpairedThe provincial “Fall” seatbelt campaign is in full swing and London police officers are being extra keen on dealing with drivers and passengers who don’t comply with the law. On Wednesday, a Traffic Management Unit officer positioned herself at Gore Road and Braesyde Avenue to observe traffic as it passed by her location in order to deal with seatbelt infractions. At 12:08 pm the officer observed a vehicle go by with both the driver and passenger not wearing their seatbelts. Minutes later the officer had the vehicle stopped, noticed that both occupants had been consuming alcohol and there was open bottles of beer in the vehicle.The driver failed a roadside breath test and was arrested. After further tests at police headquarters the test revealed that the driver had two times the legal amount of alcohol in his body. He was charged with impaired driving.Police want to send the message out that impaired driving doesn’t just occur on the weekend after the bars let out. For those drivers who partake in the noon hour “pail of beer” or the “businessman lunch” know that the RIDE program and roadside tests occur at any time. Officers are always on the lookout for people who drink and drive.Sgt Tom O’Brien
