The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is reporting 285 people have been charged with alcohol and/or drug-impaired driving during the first three weeks of the province-wide Festive RIDE program.
The OPP said 174 more were issued a warning suspension on OPP-patrolled roads. Drivers who register a blood-alcohol concentration in the “warn range” of .05 to .08 will receive an immediate three-day driver's licence suspension at the roadside.
New laws come into effect December 18 that will authorize law enforcement to demand a roadside breath sample from any driver that has been lawfully stopped. The Government of Canada said this is a proven traffic safety measure that has had significant success in preventing road deaths in countries such as Australia and Ireland. The new law will repeal and replace the entire Criminal Code transportation regime, resulting in a modernized, simplified, and comprehensive approach to transportation offences, including impaired driving. Federal officials added this area is one of the most litigated in the Criminal Code. They feel the new legal framework will increase deterrence and the detection of impaired drivers, and simplify the investigation and proof of the impaired driving offences, resulting in shorter trials and reduced delays.
“I am tremendously proud to have introduced this legislation and see it passed into law. I believe these reforms will result in fewer road deaths and fewer Canadian families devastated by the effects of an impaired driver," said Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Jody Wilson-Raybould. "This is one of the most significant changes to the laws related to impaired driving in more than 40 years and is another way that we are modernizing the criminal justice system.”
Part 1 of the former Bill C-46 came into effect on June 21 and was about drug-impaired driving. Part 2 focuses on alcohol-impaired driving and will come into effect on December 18.
“Impaired driving is the leading criminal cause of death and injury in Canada. Mandatory alcohol screening will save lives in our country, as it has in Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and other countries," said Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Ralph Goodale. "Impaired driving is 100% preventable - don’t put yourself and others in danger by drinking and driving.”
Federal government statistics showed that in 2017, there were more than 69,000 impaired driving incidents reported by the police, including almost 3,500 drug-impaired driving incidents.