Impaired driver dodges interlock, but not the police

An impaired motorist who was on the ignition interlock program hopped behind the wheel of his fiancée’s car and drove straight into a lengthy jail sentence.

Darren David Cairns, 28, was sentenced to 75 days in jail for impaired driving and another 15 days for failing to stop at the scene after he bumped into a vehicle on Beach Grove Road in Charlottetown on Jan. 24.

In order to have a license reinstated following a drinking and driving conviction, a motorist must participate in the ignition interlock program. Under the mandatory program, a restricted license will allow the motorist to operate only a vehicle equipped with an ignition interlock device.

Chief Provincial Court Judge Nancy Orr imposed a two-year driving prohibition which starts once Cairns has served his jail time,

Orr told Cairns he must wait 12 months before applying for the interlock ignition program again. Cairns was also fined $1,500. There was a small dent in the complainant’s vehicle’s bumper.

“It doesn’t appear to have been a very severe collision,’’ said Crown attorney Valerie Moore.

Cairns told the judge he knows he did wrong.

However, the judge was left questioning the man’s declaration that he does not have a drinking problem.

Orr noted that Cairns was driving at 3:30 p.m. on a work day with a blood alcohol level well in excess of the legal limit.