Trucker with a candle burning in cab caught drinking and driving near Fruitvale

A truck driver was caught with open liquor, and a burning candle in the cab near Fruitvale. 

A BC Highway Patrol officer caught the driver of a Peterbilt tractor-trailer going 75 km/h in a 60 km/h zone around 9 a.m. on Dec. 4, according to a press release from police. 

The officer pulled the truck over for a mandatory alcohol screening test and saw a lit candle in the cab.

“It’s possible that the driver is very fond of Christmas candles. It’s also possible that he was trying to mask the odour of liquor,” Cpl. Michael McLaughlin said in the release. “In this case, the officer gave the driver a mandatory alcohol screening breath demand, so there was no need to form suspicion that the driver had been drinking.”

The 52-year-old Abbotsford man had alcohol in his system, but below the limit for driving under the influence so he blew a “warn.”

He received a three-day roadside prohibition of his license, a three-day impound for the truck, a $138 speeding ticket and a $230 ticket for open liquor in a vehicle. 

Mandatory alcohol screening allows police to check whether any driver has been drinking. The RCMP is doing a Winter Impaired Driving Campaign for the whole month of December.