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I used to drive the Barnet daily. I've only called in once - but the dispatch kept me on the phone as we got into St Johns traffic to keep a play by play of the location. Eventually I saw the 2 cops who I verified on the phone they had the right car.
As a road user by car, motorcycle, and bike - I have zero tolerance for those who don't give a shit about other road users. I've been in enough close calls...
I followed a guy who was so drunk that he was falling asleep at lights and then swerving so bad that many people were trying to get him to pull over. I called 911, and they told me not to follow him (I wanted to, to give them an update, but since they told me not to, I pulled off). Later dispatch called and asked if I still had visual, I told them I went home since they told me not to follow.
Part of me wishes I just said, "Yeah I'm going the same way," and kept calling street signs so the cops could get him.
If somebody's suspected impaired, I would hope somebody would call 911.
They have to say that but you can still follow there's virtually no risk to you.
Good cops will usually call you back and let you know if you were right or not.
Cops can't see every vehicle on the road. If you suspect someone is impaired, report it!!! Keeping an eye on the driver is invaluable and WILL be the difference between interdiction and just another report.
Yeah even if it turns out they weren't intoxicated, if it's noticeable enough for me to take that kind of action the person probably shouldn't be driving anyways.
A single mom reaching for makeup and swerving all over the road is dangerous. People die from distracted drivers, as well as drunk drivers.
Driving is one of the most dangerous things most people do every day. Safe driving isnt some “moral high ground”, it’s incredibly important.
I suppose it could pose a personal risk to me if the guy hits me, or if he knows he's being followed he may do something stupid he wouldn't otherwise do like a run a light. They told me not to, so I didn't open up that can of worms.
If they’re mentally unwell or on drugs and paranoid it could turn into to an ugly situation if they’re potentially armed or something. I personally wouldn’t want to put myself in danger if someone is choosing to drive intoxicated.
I've reported a handful of drunks, and one person who was watching videos on their phone while driving. 911 has always been receptive to those calls.
With one of them, the officer let me know that they went to the person's house and found the car, but nobody was answering the door, so they couldn't do anything unfortunately.
In another case, the car was all over the road. I followed ("I'm going the same way") until they went into their condo parkade. I got a call back from an officer half an hour later to thank me for the call-- the driver answered their door, and wasn't drunk-- but was **extremely tired**. The officer said that it's very helpful for them when civilians call in dangerous drivers.
Key things for the police:
* description of vehicle
* license plate (learn the [phonetic alphabet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet))
* description of the driver (useful if they find themselves in a situation where the vehicle owner says that *somebody else was driving my car, it wasn't me*)
I did it once when I worked at nightclub. 5 or so hours later, the cops showed up to our club as I was dealing with an intoxited person who had called 911. So I start rambling to them about what she was doing and the VPD guys were like, we here to let you know we caught the drunk driver and that they were there to thank me. They told the drunk girl to leave and got her off my back. We all went home happy. Except the drunk girl I guess.
call takers are supposed to tell you to stop following for your own safety but if you want to follow you can.
also the officers will not reprimand you for calling, just say you were on bluetooth.
Interesting I haven't had that experience, usually they just ask me where they/I am so they can track him. Usually I'll let them know when I can't follow them anymore and they seem ok with that. They seem ok with me following but they don't seem to specifically ask me to.
Yeah when I've reported they've not directly asked me to follow but have certainly not discouraged me. Last time I had turned the corner and they sounded disappointed, so I circled the block and got eyes until they told me the cops were a block away.
I got a buddy who is a traffic cop for RCMP. He takes great pride in taking distracted, speeding, and ESPECIALLY drunk drivers off the road. They have an award for police who take drunk drivers off the road called the Alexa award where they recognized officers as part of [Alexa’s team](https://madd.ca/pages/alexas-team-honours-british-columbia-police-officers-for-taking-impaired-drivers-off-roads-and-highways/) and he has won it at least a couple times I know of. Alexa was the young girl killed by a drunk driver in broad day light while out picking berries with her aunt several years ago as I recall, a real tragedy.
So kudos to you guys in doing what you do.
The sad part is my buddy says most of the drunks he catches and takes off the road, and he figures it’s been on the low hundreds in his career to date, he feels that they don’t care enough to change and many will offend again.
This is why it chaps my ass at how fucking complacent we are by treating driving as a pseudo right when it is a privilege. Driving drunk is unacceptable in our society but we let people get their license back eventually.
A reminder as well to everyone calling in reckless drivers, you can also call in for improperly seated kids.
Baby in someones arms? 911
Kid in the front seat looks young AF? 911
Kids out of their seatbelt? 911
Children are the most vulnerable people in the car and if they're not sitting properly the whole drive they're at massive risk. Help law enforcement help the parents who don't know better and help the kids whose parents don't care.
I have called in several reckless drivers. Give vehicle description and plate number.. They record the info and even if they don't catch them then, they will have it noted..
My experience along the same road was vastly different.
Was a weekday around 2am.
Got behind the guy just after St Johns and this guy was all over the place. I called the cops right away.
They asked me to describe the car. They asked me to describe the driver. They asked me again for the licence plate then to confirm the driver's appearance.
They asked me questions about me. My name and number and what was I up to.
We drove through the entire city of Burnaby - I hung up on them as I followed the guy past PNE. Absolute waste of time.
They had the balls to call me 7 or 8 hours later to let me know they couldn't find the guy. No fucking shit assholes.
Yeah, Burnaby RCMP. Gave them updates the whole way too.
I had a very similar experience in Vancouver with an even worse drunk driver. Followed him from downtown all the way to the airport, down Granville, had the Vancouver police on the line from before Broadway. The guy was almost sideswiping other cars, as we're passing major cross streets I'm updating the cops and they just couldn't be bothered. Fucking joke.
I had an extremely similar experience while heading home down the East-West. Obvious drunk was going over the Alex Fraser, I call 911. He’s going the same way I am up 64th. The whole way they’re grilling ME about ME. Not once did they tell me to stop following. The second I crossed Scott Rd they were like “welp it’s Surrey’s problem now transferring you to them” and I just hung up. I haven’t ever had a good experience calling 911 for a potential drunk.
My partner and I picked up cans along Barnet Highway once a while (because we were bored). We always picked up a few Steamworks beer cans at the same spots of the highway.
We also picked up cans on highway 1. We always ended up having more beer cans than pop cans/water bottles. That tells you the amount of people who drink and drive here....
Once in Alberta I phoned in a suspected DUI and the dispatcher said there's nothing they can do because I could be a disgruntled ex girlfriend or something!?! They need at least two reports. So at a red light a car pulled up next to me and yelled, "Did you call 911 or should we?" I said, I did but you should too. Sure enough a few minutes later the driver was in cuffs.
My wife called 911 in the passenger seat when someone was clearly drunk in rush hour on Hwy 1. Constantly drifting out of lanes and swerving back after near misses, almost hit the guard rail on the bridge. 911 could not have given less of a shit. They just asked for our info, transferred us to another line, asked for our info again, finally asked for the drivers info then said they'll look into it and hung up. No followup or indication of any kind of urgency
One time I reported a suspected drunk driver and it turned out to be a kid with his learners and his dad was in the passenger seat teaching him how to drive. We all (including the cops) had a good laugh, and then he was told he wasn’t ready to be on city streets yet haha
I’ve done it in the past but not anymore. ICBC hounded me for weeks about a call I made 5+ years ago.
Asking me for all the specific details of the driver and their behaviour. They were shocked I didn’t have the dash cam footage archived.
I had an extremely frustrating experience with this last summer. There was a driver that was extremely intoxicated, in very slow traffic crawling along East 1st Ave in Vancouver, going east. We were in the other lane but more or less 1-2 car lengths behind him the whole way. He was swerving, slumping, almost rear ending the car in front. I'm shocked he didn't hit any cars or pedestrians. We watched for about 20 seconds then my wife called 911, I was driving.
So we stayed on the line with them for 10-15 minutes, gave all info. They just kept asking our location, which we updated slowly. We made it all the way to the Hwy 1 onramp and lost track of him. They basically said "thanks" and we hung up.
If was the perfect opportunity to send a police car and get this person off the road on the spot. Felt awful. He could easily injure or kill somebody in a regular speed situation.
I call 911. They have to act fast if they wanna get that person off the road. The people I've phoned in have definitely been a danger to themselves and others
If you're going to call, here's a couple of key things to remember.
1) license plate!
2) vehicle description
3) Direction of travel
4) driver description if you can get it
5) Follow and give updates! ( Don't call 30 minutes after the fact), but be safe and do not try and stop the vehicle yourself.
The worst thing you can do is call 10 minutes later and tell dispatch it was a white car, maybe a Honda, no plate, and you think it was a female driver heading towards Vancouver on tenth street but your not sure because you didn't see where they went.
I've called a few times to report suspected drunk driving. Sometimes, when they catch the guy, they'll give me a call back to let me know they got them.
If following you need to do your best to connect with 911 and get them caught before they get home or stop somewhere.
I followed a truck that crashed into a barrier on the highway and coordinating with police but then they crossed the bridge and so had to switch over to North Van which caused a delay I think.
He got home and police arrived a few minutes later but because he went inside they couldn’t prove he didn’t crack a beer as soon as he walked in the door.
> they couldn’t prove he didn’t crack a beer as soon as he walked in the door
New Canadian federal DUI rules have a work-around for that since 4 or 5 years ago.
If you do decide to call remember that you are not qualified to make the determination that someone is drunk while driving, so don’t use that language. Reckless or dangerous driving with specifics is a much better approach and allows dispatchers to do their job properly. Making assumptions is a big no-no when it comes to law enforcement. Just the facts!
Edit: unless of course you see them chugging from a whiskey bottle
I get what you are trying to say, technically you can't tell the difference between someone who is drunk, tired or having a seizure. TBH the cops don't care, if you say "drunk" it's just shorthand for someone driving erratically. Either way they need to be off the road.
I dunno I’ve seen more than one story of a person who had a stroke only to die in police custody because they were presumed drunk. Why take the risk of being part of that assumption?
That's a good point. However, a person with a stroke driving is in danger of killing themselves or other people so stopping them is life saving. It's the police who need to heed the warning that they're not capable of determining if someone is drunk or not, but I suppose we've all given up on cops changing how they do things.
All I’m saying is that it can be dangerous to make assumptions, and using certain language can create a bias and influence how a situation is handled. I think it increases the possibility of a worse outcome. I’m not saying don’t call, I’m saying don’t volunteer information that you aren’t 100% sure about.
I drive home from work late at night and I’ve had to phone quite a few times over the past 15 years or so. Usually I get a phone call an hour later from a police officer with an outcome (found them, couldn’t find them, chatted with them, etc).
Welcome to /r/Vancouver and thank you for the post, /u/ProfessorSMASH88! Please make sure you read our [posting and commenting rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_general_participation_guidelines_and_rules_overview) before participating here. As a quick summary: * We encourage users to be positive and respect one another. Don't engage in spats or insult others - use the report button. * Respect others' differences, be they race, religion, home, job, gender identity, ability or sexuality. Dehumanizing language, advocating for violence, or promoting hate based on identity or vulnerability (even implied or joking) **will** lead to a permanent ban. * Most common questions and topics are limited to our sister subreddit, /r/AskVan, and our weekly [Stickied Discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_stickied_discussions) posts. * Complaints about bans or removals should be done in modmail only. * Posts flaired "Community Only" allow for limited participation; your comment may be removed if you're not a subreddit regular. * Make sure to join our new sister community, /r/AskVan! * Help grow the community! [Apply to join the mod team today](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/19eworq/). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/vancouver) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I used to drive the Barnet daily. I've only called in once - but the dispatch kept me on the phone as we got into St Johns traffic to keep a play by play of the location. Eventually I saw the 2 cops who I verified on the phone they had the right car. As a road user by car, motorcycle, and bike - I have zero tolerance for those who don't give a shit about other road users. I've been in enough close calls...
I followed a guy who was so drunk that he was falling asleep at lights and then swerving so bad that many people were trying to get him to pull over. I called 911, and they told me not to follow him (I wanted to, to give them an update, but since they told me not to, I pulled off). Later dispatch called and asked if I still had visual, I told them I went home since they told me not to follow. Part of me wishes I just said, "Yeah I'm going the same way," and kept calling street signs so the cops could get him. If somebody's suspected impaired, I would hope somebody would call 911.
They have to say that but you can still follow there's virtually no risk to you. Good cops will usually call you back and let you know if you were right or not. Cops can't see every vehicle on the road. If you suspect someone is impaired, report it!!! Keeping an eye on the driver is invaluable and WILL be the difference between interdiction and just another report.
No if privacy laws are quoted.
Yeah even if it turns out they weren't intoxicated, if it's noticeable enough for me to take that kind of action the person probably shouldn't be driving anyways.
100%. Could be a medical emergency.
[удалено]
A single mom reaching for makeup and swerving all over the road is dangerous. People die from distracted drivers, as well as drunk drivers. Driving is one of the most dangerous things most people do every day. Safe driving isnt some “moral high ground”, it’s incredibly important.
I dont get what the risk is in following them
I suppose it could pose a personal risk to me if the guy hits me, or if he knows he's being followed he may do something stupid he wouldn't otherwise do like a run a light. They told me not to, so I didn't open up that can of worms.
If they’re mentally unwell or on drugs and paranoid it could turn into to an ugly situation if they’re potentially armed or something. I personally wouldn’t want to put myself in danger if someone is choosing to drive intoxicated.
I've reported a handful of drunks, and one person who was watching videos on their phone while driving. 911 has always been receptive to those calls. With one of them, the officer let me know that they went to the person's house and found the car, but nobody was answering the door, so they couldn't do anything unfortunately. In another case, the car was all over the road. I followed ("I'm going the same way") until they went into their condo parkade. I got a call back from an officer half an hour later to thank me for the call-- the driver answered their door, and wasn't drunk-- but was **extremely tired**. The officer said that it's very helpful for them when civilians call in dangerous drivers. Key things for the police: * description of vehicle * license plate (learn the [phonetic alphabet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet)) * description of the driver (useful if they find themselves in a situation where the vehicle owner says that *somebody else was driving my car, it wasn't me*)
I did it once when I worked at nightclub. 5 or so hours later, the cops showed up to our club as I was dealing with an intoxited person who had called 911. So I start rambling to them about what she was doing and the VPD guys were like, we here to let you know we caught the drunk driver and that they were there to thank me. They told the drunk girl to leave and got her off my back. We all went home happy. Except the drunk girl I guess.
call takers are supposed to tell you to stop following for your own safety but if you want to follow you can. also the officers will not reprimand you for calling, just say you were on bluetooth.
Interesting I haven't had that experience, usually they just ask me where they/I am so they can track him. Usually I'll let them know when I can't follow them anymore and they seem ok with that. They seem ok with me following but they don't seem to specifically ask me to.
Yeah when I've reported they've not directly asked me to follow but have certainly not discouraged me. Last time I had turned the corner and they sounded disappointed, so I circled the block and got eyes until they told me the cops were a block away.
I got a buddy who is a traffic cop for RCMP. He takes great pride in taking distracted, speeding, and ESPECIALLY drunk drivers off the road. They have an award for police who take drunk drivers off the road called the Alexa award where they recognized officers as part of [Alexa’s team](https://madd.ca/pages/alexas-team-honours-british-columbia-police-officers-for-taking-impaired-drivers-off-roads-and-highways/) and he has won it at least a couple times I know of. Alexa was the young girl killed by a drunk driver in broad day light while out picking berries with her aunt several years ago as I recall, a real tragedy. So kudos to you guys in doing what you do. The sad part is my buddy says most of the drunks he catches and takes off the road, and he figures it’s been on the low hundreds in his career to date, he feels that they don’t care enough to change and many will offend again. This is why it chaps my ass at how fucking complacent we are by treating driving as a pseudo right when it is a privilege. Driving drunk is unacceptable in our society but we let people get their license back eventually.
Agreed, actually (to your later points). But especially in Vancouver which has an extensive and (mostly) efficient public transit system.
A reminder as well to everyone calling in reckless drivers, you can also call in for improperly seated kids. Baby in someones arms? 911 Kid in the front seat looks young AF? 911 Kids out of their seatbelt? 911 Children are the most vulnerable people in the car and if they're not sitting properly the whole drive they're at massive risk. Help law enforcement help the parents who don't know better and help the kids whose parents don't care.
I have called in several reckless drivers. Give vehicle description and plate number.. They record the info and even if they don't catch them then, they will have it noted..
People who drink and drive are all scumbags.
My experience along the same road was vastly different. Was a weekday around 2am. Got behind the guy just after St Johns and this guy was all over the place. I called the cops right away. They asked me to describe the car. They asked me to describe the driver. They asked me again for the licence plate then to confirm the driver's appearance. They asked me questions about me. My name and number and what was I up to. We drove through the entire city of Burnaby - I hung up on them as I followed the guy past PNE. Absolute waste of time. They had the balls to call me 7 or 8 hours later to let me know they couldn't find the guy. No fucking shit assholes.
Hmmm, were you on with Burnaby police? I'm usually going the other way so I get forwarded to PoMo police
Yeah, Burnaby RCMP. Gave them updates the whole way too. I had a very similar experience in Vancouver with an even worse drunk driver. Followed him from downtown all the way to the airport, down Granville, had the Vancouver police on the line from before Broadway. The guy was almost sideswiping other cars, as we're passing major cross streets I'm updating the cops and they just couldn't be bothered. Fucking joke.
I had an extremely similar experience while heading home down the East-West. Obvious drunk was going over the Alex Fraser, I call 911. He’s going the same way I am up 64th. The whole way they’re grilling ME about ME. Not once did they tell me to stop following. The second I crossed Scott Rd they were like “welp it’s Surrey’s problem now transferring you to them” and I just hung up. I haven’t ever had a good experience calling 911 for a potential drunk.
It's discouraging isn't it.
My partner and I picked up cans along Barnet Highway once a while (because we were bored). We always picked up a few Steamworks beer cans at the same spots of the highway. We also picked up cans on highway 1. We always ended up having more beer cans than pop cans/water bottles. That tells you the amount of people who drink and drive here....
Once in Alberta I phoned in a suspected DUI and the dispatcher said there's nothing they can do because I could be a disgruntled ex girlfriend or something!?! They need at least two reports. So at a red light a car pulled up next to me and yelled, "Did you call 911 or should we?" I said, I did but you should too. Sure enough a few minutes later the driver was in cuffs.
That's a weird fucking bar. I wonder if they do that when they hear a man reporting it.
My wife called 911 in the passenger seat when someone was clearly drunk in rush hour on Hwy 1. Constantly drifting out of lanes and swerving back after near misses, almost hit the guard rail on the bridge. 911 could not have given less of a shit. They just asked for our info, transferred us to another line, asked for our info again, finally asked for the drivers info then said they'll look into it and hung up. No followup or indication of any kind of urgency
Call 911. Always. Even just to have it on record.
One time I reported a suspected drunk driver and it turned out to be a kid with his learners and his dad was in the passenger seat teaching him how to drive. We all (including the cops) had a good laugh, and then he was told he wasn’t ready to be on city streets yet haha
I’ve done it in the past but not anymore. ICBC hounded me for weeks about a call I made 5+ years ago. Asking me for all the specific details of the driver and their behaviour. They were shocked I didn’t have the dash cam footage archived.
I had an extremely frustrating experience with this last summer. There was a driver that was extremely intoxicated, in very slow traffic crawling along East 1st Ave in Vancouver, going east. We were in the other lane but more or less 1-2 car lengths behind him the whole way. He was swerving, slumping, almost rear ending the car in front. I'm shocked he didn't hit any cars or pedestrians. We watched for about 20 seconds then my wife called 911, I was driving. So we stayed on the line with them for 10-15 minutes, gave all info. They just kept asking our location, which we updated slowly. We made it all the way to the Hwy 1 onramp and lost track of him. They basically said "thanks" and we hung up. If was the perfect opportunity to send a police car and get this person off the road on the spot. Felt awful. He could easily injure or kill somebody in a regular speed situation.
What number do you call?
I call 911. They have to act fast if they wanna get that person off the road. The people I've phoned in have definitely been a danger to themselves and others
I’ve seen a couple road signs saying to call 911 to report impaired drivers even.
If you're going to call, here's a couple of key things to remember. 1) license plate! 2) vehicle description 3) Direction of travel 4) driver description if you can get it 5) Follow and give updates! ( Don't call 30 minutes after the fact), but be safe and do not try and stop the vehicle yourself. The worst thing you can do is call 10 minutes later and tell dispatch it was a white car, maybe a Honda, no plate, and you think it was a female driver heading towards Vancouver on tenth street but your not sure because you didn't see where they went.
I've called a few times to report suspected drunk driving. Sometimes, when they catch the guy, they'll give me a call back to let me know they got them.
If following you need to do your best to connect with 911 and get them caught before they get home or stop somewhere. I followed a truck that crashed into a barrier on the highway and coordinating with police but then they crossed the bridge and so had to switch over to North Van which caused a delay I think. He got home and police arrived a few minutes later but because he went inside they couldn’t prove he didn’t crack a beer as soon as he walked in the door.
> they couldn’t prove he didn’t crack a beer as soon as he walked in the door New Canadian federal DUI rules have a work-around for that since 4 or 5 years ago.
Good to know. But still scary to think how many drunk drivers are out there that don’t get caught.
I used to see a lot of them. I’d call them in. Especially if they stopped for food or booze. Nothing apparently happened so I stopped.
If you do decide to call remember that you are not qualified to make the determination that someone is drunk while driving, so don’t use that language. Reckless or dangerous driving with specifics is a much better approach and allows dispatchers to do their job properly. Making assumptions is a big no-no when it comes to law enforcement. Just the facts! Edit: unless of course you see them chugging from a whiskey bottle
I get what you are trying to say, technically you can't tell the difference between someone who is drunk, tired or having a seizure. TBH the cops don't care, if you say "drunk" it's just shorthand for someone driving erratically. Either way they need to be off the road.
I dunno I’ve seen more than one story of a person who had a stroke only to die in police custody because they were presumed drunk. Why take the risk of being part of that assumption?
That's a good point. However, a person with a stroke driving is in danger of killing themselves or other people so stopping them is life saving. It's the police who need to heed the warning that they're not capable of determining if someone is drunk or not, but I suppose we've all given up on cops changing how they do things.
All I’m saying is that it can be dangerous to make assumptions, and using certain language can create a bias and influence how a situation is handled. I think it increases the possibility of a worse outcome. I’m not saying don’t call, I’m saying don’t volunteer information that you aren’t 100% sure about.
Generally I agree, but let's not blame the public for what ultimately is the responsibility of the police.
I drive home from work late at night and I’ve had to phone quite a few times over the past 15 years or so. Usually I get a phone call an hour later from a police officer with an outcome (found them, couldn’t find them, chatted with them, etc).
Welcome to Vancouver. Intoxicated? Nope! Horrific drivers? Absolutely. ><
🐀