While local police detachments have been holding recent vehicle-inspection blitzes across Metro Vancouver, Vancouver police also shut down an auto centre for conducting inspections without any authorized inspectors.

The Vancouver Police Department stated in a news release today (March 6) that an audit of Budget Brake and Muffler at 245 East 2^nd Avenue resulted in investigators discovering that the company was conducting vehicle inspections without any authorized inspectors working at the facility.

Investigators found that 40 vehicles had been inspected since an authorized inspector had stopped working at the location.

Among the affected vehicles were 17 commercial vehicles (including 16 limousines and one tow truck) while the rest were private vehicles.

The owner has been charged with 40 counts of an unauthorized person signing inspection reports and each violation has a fine of $598 for a total of almost $24,000.

In addition, the owner has surrendered his inspection facility designation and his facility operation certificate.

Police are contacting all vehicle owners to inform them that the inspections were invalid and they will need to have their vehicles inspected at a valid facility.

Meanwhile, local RCMP detachments have been conducting a number of driving-related initiatives.

While White Rock and Surrey RCMP have been cracking down on distracted driving this month, Surrey RCMP also recently conducted a commercial vehicle enforcement blitz in which police conducted 33 inspections, nine vehicles were removed from roads, and 11 vehicles were identified with various defective conditions.

Surrey RCMP added that on March 5 that just before midnight on March 4, officers on patrol near Fraser Highway at 160^th Street in Cloverdale spotted a semi truck traveling without its headlights on.

When officers stopped the truck, they found a 35-year-old male driver who was impaired.

Police issued the driver a 90-day immediate roadside prohibition and impounded the truck for 30 days.

Burnaby RCMP also conducted a commercial-vehicle inspection blitz in late February. After almost 300 inspections, approximately 150 vehicles (or almost half of inspected vehicles) were removed from the road while 440 violations and approximately 350 mechanical defects were found.