Highway 97 was closed for nearly three hours Tuesday evening after an impaired driver collided with a utility pole.
At 5:10 p.m. Osoyoos RCMP responded to a single vehicle collision on Highway 97 just north of 62nd Street.
A witness on scene reported seeing the vehicle, a 2007 Chevrolet LS, travelling south bound at a high rate of speed, lose control and go off road into a utility pole.
The utility pole was severed at its base and leaned over the vehicle, yet remained suspended above only being held by the utility lines.
As a result, Highway 97 was closed to traffic in both directions and was reopened at approximately 8:00 p.m. after the pole was secured.
Despite the vehicle being equipped with an impaired driving interlock device, the driver and sole occupant, a 47-year-old resident of Osoyoos, displayed significant impaired symptoms.
He was taken to hospital for assessment before being released to the RCMP. He later provided breath samples showing a blood alcohol concentration 2.5 times over the legal limit.
This is not his first impaired driving incident and he now faces another criminal code impaired driving charge.
