Impaired Driving

Question: I need some advice on a ticket for falling asleep at the wheel. I dozed off while driving home from work at 1:00 in the afternoon after doing a few late night / early morning shifts. I drove off the road and struck a guardrail doing damage to the truck. RCMP attended and wrote me up for "driving without consideration." I was told it would be $196 fine.

If you blow a warn, which means having a blood alcohol content (BAC) between 60 and 90 mg%, it will trigger an Immediate Roadside Prohibition (IRP) for a driver today. This could also apply to the operators of e-bikes and e-scooters as well.

I have a question about the Ignition Interlock Program. My son lost his licence for pleading guilty to drinking too much wine at my new years dinner and running to the store for me. He went through a road block, and blew over. I would not have sent him if I thought he was impaired, but with the new laws, he was guilty.

Last week's column looked at the 24 hour prohibition from driving for all drivers who had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 50 mg% or higher and were either the driver of or who had care and control of a vehicle on a highway or industrial road. This week we'll look at 12 hour suspensions that apply to drivers who are in the Graduated Licensing Program (GLP).

You don't have to be actually driving a motor vehicle when your ability to drive is impaired by alcohol or a drug to be convicted for impaired driving or receiving an Immediate Roadside Prohibition. Simply being able to set the vehicle in motion, engine running or not, may be enough because you have care and control of the motor vehicle while you are impaired.

I shamefully regret to tell you that two years ago I was charged for DUI. Thankfully, I didn't hurt anyone and i wasn't in an accident. However, that doesn't excuse the fact that I did it. I was given a great big fine, my car was impounded and of course my licence was taken away.

There was an interesting discussion in a driving forum that I moderate on the internet. The initiator of that discussion wondered why he had been hassled by the police for impaired driving when his blood alcohol level was less than the legal limit of .08.

Question: This past year my 18 year old son was stopped and ticketed for having an extra passenger in his vehicle. He was also given a 24 hour prohibition for drug use without any investigation to support this.

I spoke to a woman this week who was upset at the way the police had handled the clearing of an out of control party at a residence. Impaired driving was the inevitable consequence of requiring the teens to leave immediately.

The Criminal Code now allows a peace officer to demand breath samples from a driver without having a reasonable suspicion that the driver has alcohol in his body. This case determines that mandatory alcohol screening is not a violation of the driver's Charter rights.