Hammered student veered into oncoming traffic
Taylor Greenlaw, 21, of Darlings Island, narrowly missed several other cars as she made her through Geary toward Fredericton while grossly intoxicated last fall
A Saint John-area woman with four times the legal limit of alcohol in her system almost struck several oncoming vehicles on the highway as she made her way to Fredericton last fall.
But despite her incredibly dangerous crimes, she won’t serve time behind bars.
Taylor Greenlaw, 21, of Stockdale Road in Darlings Island, near Saint John, appeared in Fredericton provincial court Monday for a sentencing hearing.
She’d previously pleaded guilty to Nov. 13 counts of impaired driving and dangerous driving.
Crown prosecutor Darlene Blunston said the RCMP started receiving multiple calls from motorists about a blue Honda Civic on Route 7 in the Geary area travelling toward Fredericton at about 5:15 p.m.
“They were reporting that the Civic was driving erratically in the opposite lane of traffic,” she said.
Around that time, an RCMP officer travelling in the other direction on the highway saw the Civic followed by another vehicle with its lights flashing, the prosecutor said, noting the officer turned around and pursued.
“He could see that the Civic was accelerating,” Blunston said, noting the Civic reached speeds of up to 130 kilometres per hour, all while weaving side to side.
“The officer observed the [northbound] vehicle crossing the centre line into the southbound lane.”
The Mountie said the Civic weaved into oncoming traffic repeatedly, narrowly missing head-on collisions several times, court heard, and oncoming vehicles had to pull onto the shoulder of the highway to avoid being hit.
“The officer thought that driver was trying to create a head-on collision,” the prosecutor said, emphasizing how often it was happening during the pursuit.
The entire time, the Mountie had his emergency lights and siren activated, she said, but the Civic didn’t show any signs of stopping.
At one point, court heard, the Civic slowed to about 60 km/hour in an effort to turn around and head south again, but the RCMP blocked the car and prevented it from going any further.
“It was only at that point that the Civic came to a complete stop,” Blunston said.
Later, the other motorist that had followed the Civic with his hazard lights flashing reported he’d been following it for more than 20 kilometres, all while talking with a 911 operator about the situation, court heard.
At the wheel of the blue Civic was Greenlaw, the prosecutor said, and initially, she was arrested for dangerous driving. But the officer took note of the strong smell of liquor coming from her breath, her slurred speech and confusion.
“She had difficulty standing by herself,” Blunston said, adding that Greenlaw told police she hadn’t been drinking.
A short time later, a breathalyzer test proved her wrong. Court heard Greenlaw blew readings of 340 and 320 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.
The legal limit is 80 mg.
Judge Natalie LeBlanc expressed shock at the readings. She said in six years on the bench, she’s only heard of higher readings in a single case, and that one involved a middle-aged, high-functioning alcoholic.
That made for a stark contrast with Greenlaw - a short, slender 21-year-old.
Drunk driving on the rise
Blunston said while the defendant has no prior criminal record, the high readings and incredibly dangerous conduct on a busy highway merited a serious sentence.
She asked the court to impose a jail term of 90 days, followed by an 18-month driving prohibition.
The prosecutor said the sentence not only needs to deter Greenlaw from committing similar crimes in the future, but others in the community who might consider getting behind the wheel while sloshed.
Despite widespread awareness of the dangers, she said, statistics show impaired driving is a growing problem in the capital region.
The numbers in Fredericton aren’t going down,” Blunston said.
LeBlanc agreed such crimes appear to be coming before the courts on a frequent basis as of late.
The Fredericton Police Force reported last week that impaired-driving charges for the first half of 2023 were up by 25 per cent over the same period in 2022.
Defence lawyer Emily Cochrane said there are a number of mitigating factors the court needed to consider in crafting an appropriate sentence.
She noted Greenlaw is a youthful, first-time offender who has accepted responsibility for her actions and expressed remorse.
The defence lawyer said her client’s pre-sentence report is positive and shows she had a positive upbringing.
But LeBlanc said the pre-sentence report was missing a key element: some kind of explanation for the crimes.
Cochrane offered that explanation. She said Greenlaw has struggled with anxiety and depression for the past seven years, and had engaged in self-harm in the past, even cutting herself so badly she needed stitches.
On the day of the offences, the defence lawyer said, her client hadn’t eaten much and had been in a big fight with her parents.
“I was going through some really traumatic things,” Greenlaw told the judge Monday, admitting she didn’t handle it well.
“I was just trying to get back to school so my parents wouldn’t be mad at me.”
Cochrane said her client is employed for the summer and is set to return to university in Fredericton in the fall. She’s also in counselling, the defence lawyer said, which speaks to the strong potential for her rehabilitation.
She asked the court to impose a conditional-sentence order to allow Greenlaw to serve her sentence in the community under house arrest at her parents’ home.
Cochrane agreed that impaired-driving cases are up, and she sees it first hand.
“Most of my practice is this type of case,” she said.
Greenlaw said her actions on the date in question were out of character for her, and she realizes people could have been seriously hurt.
House arrest
LeBlanc expressed concern that in her pre-sentence report, Greenlaw reported she doesn’t have a problem with alcohol, but the incredibly high breathlayzer readings suggested differently.
The judge said the challenge for her was to send the right message to the community about such crimes while also being cognizant of the need to offer the offender the help and support she needs to avoid such pitfalls in the future.
Ultimately, LeBlanc granted the defence request for a conditional sentence, imposing a six-month term on Greenlaw.
During the first three months of the sentence, she’ll be under house arrest at her parents’ home and can only leave for work, medical or counselling appointments, and other limited exceptions.
The second half of the conditional sentence will be served under a 10 p.m.-6 a.m. curfew.
Throughout the six months, Greenlaw is to abstain from alcohol and other intoxicants, and she must make a $500 donation to Mothers Against Drunk Drivers or some other applicable cause as approved by her sentence supervisor.
The judge also prohibited Greenlaw from driving for 18 months.
LeBlanc reminded her, though, that while she’s not behind bars, she’s still incarcerated.
“This is a jail sentence, and you’re being allowed to serve it at home,” she said.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.
Another slap on the wrist from a judge who tells us how serious this is.