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I am going to preface this by saying i firmly believe drunk driving is on par in terms of concern level as gun and any other source of violence -- we have enough data to show the dangerousness of impaired driving. Supporting laws that prevent drunk drivers from putting us at risk should be a common thread among various political leanings.
However, Canada's new laws are beyond reasonable measures to straight up draconian and invasive.
Previous law measures had legal limit at .08 -- but charges could be had if you were driving at a .05 - which included week or month long suspension of license and fine.
The new laws go beyond that -- now police can demand Breathalyzer and hand out driving impairment charges even if you are at a bar - or at home. Police can now, wait for patrons to leave a bar, and administer testing, even if the person(s) have no intention of driving home -- furthermore, police can now come to your home, up to two hours after a report and administer testing. That means, say you were driving home from work -- you swerve a little (being distracted) or someone just reports you for whatever reason, you get home -- toss back a few drinks -- police can now come to your house two hours later and demand testing and charge you with impaired driving
"
Had a rough day at work? Maybe want to take the edge off?
You get home, pour yourself a proper drink – or two – then hit the comfy chair and flip on the tube. There’s a knock at the door, and you open it to a cop who’s demanding a breath sample. She was alerted to you driving “kinda funny,” and tracked you to your castle. Of course, you haven’t driven for about an hour now, and only started drinking after settling in at home. But that doesn’t matter, and now you’re facing, as absurd as it sounds, an impaired driving charge.
Could it happen?
“It is a very strange thing that they have made,” Sarah Leamon, a defence lawyer specializing in impaired driving cases, said of the federal government’s new impaired driving legislation – namely Section 253 of the Criminal Code.
“There’s lots of lawyers who are making lots of noise about this being an issue, in that we might be able to see police kind-of follow people into their homes or into a bar and pull them out.”
“Basically, the change now just says you can’t be over 80 milligrams per cent within two hours of driving,” Leamon said. “Now, I think that that’s improperly worded in the Criminal Code. I think it’s going to be a very, very big misstep in terms of how the legislation is worded. I don’t think it was the legislative intention for people to have to abstain from consuming alcohol two hours after they’ve ceased driving.”
https://www.terracestandard.com/new...ed-driving-law-brews-potential-for-injustice/
Canadians could now be charged with drunk driving — even if not drunk, lawyers warn
https://globalnews.ca/news/4838386/commentary-canadas-new-impaired-driving-law-goes-way-too-far/
" For example, Global News reported this week on the story of a Mississauga man who was returning some empty beer and wine bottles on a Saturday morning, only to be stopped by a police officer who was demanding a breath sample. Apparently, the three dozen empty beer bottles and 10 empty wine bottles was suspicious, even though they had accumulated over the holiday season."
What say you WR's have the Canadian nanny state gone too far with this one?
However, Canada's new laws are beyond reasonable measures to straight up draconian and invasive.
Previous law measures had legal limit at .08 -- but charges could be had if you were driving at a .05 - which included week or month long suspension of license and fine.
The new laws go beyond that -- now police can demand Breathalyzer and hand out driving impairment charges even if you are at a bar - or at home. Police can now, wait for patrons to leave a bar, and administer testing, even if the person(s) have no intention of driving home -- furthermore, police can now come to your home, up to two hours after a report and administer testing. That means, say you were driving home from work -- you swerve a little (being distracted) or someone just reports you for whatever reason, you get home -- toss back a few drinks -- police can now come to your house two hours later and demand testing and charge you with impaired driving
"
Had a rough day at work? Maybe want to take the edge off?
You get home, pour yourself a proper drink – or two – then hit the comfy chair and flip on the tube. There’s a knock at the door, and you open it to a cop who’s demanding a breath sample. She was alerted to you driving “kinda funny,” and tracked you to your castle. Of course, you haven’t driven for about an hour now, and only started drinking after settling in at home. But that doesn’t matter, and now you’re facing, as absurd as it sounds, an impaired driving charge.
Could it happen?
“It is a very strange thing that they have made,” Sarah Leamon, a defence lawyer specializing in impaired driving cases, said of the federal government’s new impaired driving legislation – namely Section 253 of the Criminal Code.
“There’s lots of lawyers who are making lots of noise about this being an issue, in that we might be able to see police kind-of follow people into their homes or into a bar and pull them out.”
“Basically, the change now just says you can’t be over 80 milligrams per cent within two hours of driving,” Leamon said. “Now, I think that that’s improperly worded in the Criminal Code. I think it’s going to be a very, very big misstep in terms of how the legislation is worded. I don’t think it was the legislative intention for people to have to abstain from consuming alcohol two hours after they’ve ceased driving.”
https://www.terracestandard.com/new...ed-driving-law-brews-potential-for-injustice/
Canadians could now be charged with drunk driving — even if not drunk, lawyers warn
https://globalnews.ca/news/4838386/commentary-canadas-new-impaired-driving-law-goes-way-too-far/
" For example, Global News reported this week on the story of a Mississauga man who was returning some empty beer and wine bottles on a Saturday morning, only to be stopped by a police officer who was demanding a breath sample. Apparently, the three dozen empty beer bottles and 10 empty wine bottles was suspicious, even though they had accumulated over the holiday season."
What say you WR's have the Canadian nanny state gone too far with this one?
