Bow Island displays safe driving habits tournament weekend

Posted on June 22, 2023 by Ryan Dahlman

By Anna Smith
Commentator/Courier

Bow Island RCMP is pleased to see that even with the town celebrating in full swing, they still bring back a mostly-clean bill of driving health.

“So over this past weekend, there was a joint check stop between the Bow Island RCMP and the Alberta Sheriff Highway Patrol,” said Constable Josee Quirke of the Bow Island RCMP.

Coinciding with the June 9th–11th softball tournament, the checkstop lasted for approximately two and a half hours.

“It was (an) impaired driving checkstop just knowing there’s going to be a lot of community events over the weekend in Bow Island (and) in the 40 Mile County area,” said Quirke. “They massed over 100 cars. And in total, it was 99 per cent compliant with only one fail, which is not 100 per cent. But it’s still pretty good.”

The Bow Island RCMP would like to encourage residents to keep them apprised of large events happening in the area, so that they might hold checkstops like this in the future to help with public awareness and continuing to encourage good driving habits.

“Anytime that we’re made aware of an event, we always try to get out there, of course. So anytime there’s a community we always encourage, whether that be putting a call or email to the detachment, let us know about it,” said Quirke. “Just so we can get involved in other ways as well. But also, you know, make sure people aren’t impaired on the highways and the roadways.”

Overall, Quirke says, Bow Island and area tends to have good levels of compliance with impaired driving laws, but having events like this helps keep road safety at the front of people’s minds, as well as keeps a friendly presence in the area for the RCMP.

“It’s nice to just converse with people in the roadway as well,” said Quirke.