Zero tolerance measures have been in effect for drivers of commercial vehicles since 2018.
A school bus driver has been charged in Aurora after failing a roadside screening test.
On Wednesday at 8.45 a.m., York Regional Police say a 61-year-old bus driver was stopped in a RIDE check at Leslie St. and Wellington St. E.
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The driver was given a roadside screening test, which cops say he failed, and he was arrested. He was then taken to #1 District Headquarters for a breath test.
The driver has been charged with over 80 (driving with excess blood alcohol) and his licence has been suspended. The Newmarket man’s name was not released. The school bus has been impounded for seven days.
No one else was on the bus at the time.
“But he was on his way to a school to pick up children,” noted York Const. Mavina Armstrong on Thursday.
“It was definitely a good stop for the officer.”
Under the Highway Traffic Act, zero tolerance measures have been in effect for drivers of commercial vehicles since 2018.
“Driving while impaired is not a factor here,” said Armstrong. “It’s a matter of zero tolerance.”
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Armstrong said the police are increasingly seeing these incidents early in the day.
“We’re doing more RIDE and spot checks in the morning.”
Among other issues, drivers sometimes head out in the morning without having given themselves enough time to recover from drinking the night before.
Where police used to focus on late-night checks, they now run road-side programs between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. as well.
lbraun@postmedia.com