Whistler taxi driver calls for more late-night services after impaired driving crash

Taxi driver Nick Luxton was heading home to Whistler, B.C., after dropping off a ride in Pemberton early Saturday morning when he spotted a car flipped over at the side of the highway. 

"I pulled over right away, jumped out. Luckily the guy was out of the car already walking around," Luxton said.

The roads that night were in bad condition with lots of snow and poor visibility. 

But Luxton says he quickly noticed the man's odd behaviour.

"He seemed fairly coherent, but at the same time he didn't seem like he was completely with it," he said. 

Luxton says he later overheard the driver, a local resident who works in Whistler, tell emergency responders he had drunk a couple of beers after work and then had gone out to an underground club before driving home. 

RCMP have confirmed they responded to a call involving a flipped-over vehicle in that location at that time, and the driver was given an immediate roadside prohibition, which is issued under B.C.'s Motor Vehicle Act to alcohol-impaired drivers. 

RCMP say they dealt with nine impaired-driving incidents in the Whistler area over the last week.  

Luxton says he's not surprised.

"As a taxi driver, we see that kind of thing all the time," he said. "It's a pretty scary thing to think people are doing that regularly.

"I don't particularly like feeling like I'm going to die when I go to work, so it is frustrating."

Residents call for more services

Luxton posted a rant about the incident on a Facebook group for Whistler residents which prompted much debate. 

While many called out the driver for making a bad decision by getting behind the wheel after a few drinks, others asked for more late-night services to get people home safely.

Some suggested more late night buses, while some blamed the tight housing market for pushing people to find homes far and wide. 

Still others called on the Resort Municipality of Whistler to provide more overnight parking — which they say isn't allowed at many of the day lots. 

No one from the resort was available for an interview, but a spokesperson said there is "a substantial amount of overnight parking in Whistler Village in private and public lots."

After almost a year of encountering drunk drivers as a taxi driver, Luxton says it's time a solution was developed. 

"No one plans to get drunk and drive home," he said. 

"We can talk about being an adult and not making those bad decisions but that obviously isn't working at the moment."