One drink.

ThatB次元官网网址檚 how many alcoholic beverages the young man, sitting behind the wheel of his car, tells Const. Steven Lefebvre he consumed before he was stopped at a Victoria police road check around 2 a.m Sunday.

Detecting the strong smell of alcohol in the vehicle, Lefebvre leans closer through the driverB次元官网网址檚 open window.

He asks the driver to step out and watches him walk to the back of the vehicle parked near Douglas and View streets. The manB次元官网网址檚 movements are too slow and unsteady for the constable to be confident in the manB次元官网网址檚 ability to operate a vehicle. A breathalyzer test produces a B次元官网网址渇ailB次元官网网址� reading.

B次元官网网址淵ou have had more than one (drink), right? So right now you are being detained for a criminal investigation for impaired driving. Do you understand that?B次元官网网址� Lefebvre asks, before taking the manB次元官网网址檚 car keys, placing him in the back of a police cruiser and reading him his rights.

B次元官网网址淗is car will be towed and impounded for 24 hours,B次元官网网址� says Sgt. Glenn Vermette, head of VicPDB次元官网网址檚 traffic enforcement section.

Under tougher laws that came into effect in B.C. a year ago, the alleged impaired driver would have been immediately prohibited from driving for 90 days and his car impounded for 30 days.

But B.C.B次元官网网址檚 Supreme Court ruled on Nov. 30 that the toughest penalty for blowing a B次元官网网址渇ailB次元官网网址� on a breathalyzer device, that is, having more than 100 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood (the legal limit is 80 milligrams) was not constitutional.

Since then police in B.C. can only impound an impaired driverB次元官网网址檚 vehicle for a day, and theyB次元官网网址檙e back to spending hours processing an arrest.

Tonight, Lefebvre will take the impaired driver back to the department for more detailed breath checks, and allow him to call a lawyer. Fingerprints and photographs will be taken, and streams of paperwork filled out B次元官网网址� time the officer could have spent back at the ICBC-sponsored CounterAttack road check.

B次元官网网址淚mpaired drivers have always been the most complicated routine criminal investigation a police officer does,B次元官网网址� Vermette says.

He is confident the province will make any necessary legislation changes next spring in order to bring back the tough roadside prohibitions, which he says cut impaired driving deaths by 50 per cent in B.C. over the past year.

As the vehicles trickle through the first police checkpoint of the night in the 700-block of Yates St., the team also checks for unlicensed drivers or vehicles that arenB次元官网网址檛 safe to be on the roads. A few tickets are issued, and one man swears a blue streak when his car is towed for a series of traffic violations.

Another car approaches, and Vermette leans in the driverB次元官网网址檚 window, asking to see a licence. The officer walks to the back of the vehicle, where he eyes the licence plate.

B次元官网网址淚 smell alcohol,B次元官网网址� Vermette mutters, before returning to the driver and asking him to pull his car over.

The man, who says he had two drinks earlier in the night, passes a breathalyzer test.

Four hours later, officers have taken just one impaired driver off the streets. But Vermette sees their efforts as a success, possibly preventing tragedy.

Even with all the publicity about drunk driving, Vermette says some peopleB次元官网网址檚 mindsets havenB次元官网网址檛 changed.

HeB次元官网网址檒l never forget one especially grisly crash early on in his 22-year policing career.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e always remembered a 16-year-old girl in her white grad dress. She was in the backseat of a car with some guy who was drunk and slammed into a rock wall.B次元官网网址�

The teen was thrown from the vehicle and she wasnB次元官网网址檛 breathing when officers arrived on scene.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檒l never forget starting to do a chest compression to do CPR and I could feel the palm of my hand go right through her chest and I could feel the road underneath,B次元官网网址� Vermette recalls. B次元官网网址淛ust mush. ThatB次元官网网址檚 how hard the impact was.B次元官网网址�

Back at the road check, Vermette waves his neon-green wand, signalling another  waiting driver to come forward. The officer leans down to the window, asking the same questions he will repeat dozens of times that night.

Still, Vermette knows that the answer isnB次元官网网址檛 nearly as important as what he could smell on the driverB次元官网网址檚 breath.

B次元官网网址淗i. Have you had anything to drink tonight?B次元官网网址� he says.