Cape Breton police stage mock impaired driving crash in road safety campaign

It looks like the scene of a bad accident on the long weekend, but in reality, the flipped over and badly damaged car just outside of Sydney, N.S., on Sunday was a mock crash for Canadian National Road Safety Week, put on by Cape Breton Regional Police.

Police staged the mock accident as a real reminder, and a timely one too, ahead of the May long weekend.

For most of Sgt. Dave MacGillivray's 33 years of policing, alcohol has been the number-one culprit at impaired driving scenes.

Lately though, he's seeing a different trend, particuarly since the legalization of cannabis.

"We find that more and more drivers are getting stopped now for drug-related offences,” MacGillivray said. “Today, we're going to portray that as a single-vehicle crash. There's a driver and a victim here. The victim subsequently died from his injuries."

There's also an educational piece for those in the public who might want to know more about how these investigations are conducted.

"I'm a reconstructionist, so basically what I do is I take all the evidence,” said Cst. David Vokey. "When we have all the measurements, we can then use computer graphics to re-create the crash scene. That way, we can provide that to the courts, if such be that it's a criminal matter."

Police and lawmakers in Cape Breton have come under public scrutiny in a couple of high-profile cases in recent years.

In June 2018, 17-year-old Joneil Hanna was struck and killed while walking on Highway 223 in Leitches Creek, N.S., after leaving a graduation party.

The driver, 21-year-old Hayden Laffin, was determined by police at the scene not to have been impaired.

Just over a year later, 10-year-old Talia Forrest was killed in a hit-and-run while riding her bicycle on the Black Rock Road in July 2019.

The driver, Colin Tweedie, was acquitted on charges that included impaired driving causing death, though a new trial has since been ordered.

Back at the mock collision, people were given a look at what might happen behind the scenes when a suspect is taken in for further testing.

"I'm moving in a horizontal plane, checking eyes,” demonstrated Cst. Brennan Burrows. "This person is given simple direction just to walk down a line and simply turn around and come back, and he couldn't do that without stumbling on a few things."

Whether alcohol or drugs, police say some still aren't getting the message and wanted to remind people of the potential consequences.

"Same as impairment with alcohol, with drugs, you're suspended for a year,” MacGillivray said. “The consequences -- your insurance goes up for one stupid mistake."

Police said they hope the demonstration hits home, with the warmer weather just around the corner.