Accused facing drunk driving charges
Crash near Cochrane kills 17-year old
ACalgary man faces drunk driving charges in the fatal crash Thursday near Cochrane for allegedly driving at twice the legal blood-alcohol limit.
As police across the province crack down on seasonal drunk driving with increased checkstops, they say the incident is another reminder of the dangers of impaired driving.
“Somebody’s going to be missing their son at Christmas this year,” said RCMP Sgt. Audrey Robinson.
“We keep saying, please don’t drink and drive and this is one of the tragic results of it. Think of what you’re doing. Think of the decisions you’re making and the impact that they can have.”
Police said the man was driving a pickup truck south in the northbound lane on Highway 22, three kilometres south of Cochrane, shortly after 6 p.m.
The truck side-swiped two oncoming vehicles and both were forced to take evasive action, police said.
One vehicle that was attempting to avoid the truck rolled three times in the ditch.
The truck then collided head-on with a northbound Subaru Impreza, trapping the Impreza driver in the vehicle.
That driver, identified by police as Brandon Thomas, 17, of Cochrane, died at the scene.
The driver of the car that flipped three times, a 23-yearold woman from Calgary, was treated and released from hospital.
The other driver who took evasive action was uninjured.
Police said the pickup truck driver was travelling from Cochrane to Calgary.
Investigators are still looking into why the driver was in the incorrect lane.
“At this time, it appears (he) was fully in the wrong lane. We’re still in the process of trying to determine if it was passing another southbound vehicle,” said Robinson.
Police have charged the driver of the pickup truck, Ryan Jordan Gibson, 22, of Calgary, with six charges.
The charges are impaired driving causing death; driving while over .08 causing death; dangerous driving causing death; impaired driving causing bodily harm; driving while over. 08 causing bodily harm; and dangerous driving causing bodily harm.
Gibson will appear in Cochrane court on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.