Motorist Brenda L. Newsham is lucky she didn’t injure herself or another person after driving in the wrong lane on Highway 1 near Mortlach.
The Moose Jaw RCMP responded to call around 9:47 p.m. on Feb. 13 about a vehicle driving west in the eastbound lane of Highway 1, Stephen Yusuff, Crown prosecutor, said in Moose Jaw provincial court on April 1. Officers found the vehicle driving into oncoming traffic and managed to pull it over.
Police took two breath samples from Newsham, 55, of Moose Jaw, with one sample reading .200 and a second sample reading .180; both were more than twice the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) limit.
Yusuff suggested to Judge Brian Hendrickson that, as part of a joint submission, Newsham be fined $2,000 and given a one-year driving ban. She can participate in Saskatchewan Government Insurance’s driver interlock program if she wants.
“I’m very sorry I did it. I can’t change what happened,” Newsham said by phone, after pleading guilty to having a BAC over the legal limit; the Crown stayed a charge of impaired driving.
“The manner of driving, while there was no accident, that was a risky activity,” the judge said. “Going the wrong way on a major highway had the potential for an accident (or) real potential to hurt yourself.”
Due to Newsham’s current financial situation, along with the effects of the coronavirus, Hendrickson gave Newsham nine months to work off the fine and waived the 30-per-cent victim surcharge.
