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Changes came into effect that were made to impaired driving laws in December 2018 under Bill C-46 that was introduced in the House of Commons on April 13, 2017.
Police can make a demand for a breath test from any driver they stop without reasonable suspicion the driver has been drinking. Lawyers and others were quick to argue that the demand for a breath test without cause was against people’s constitutional rights. However, I would ask, is it against the constitutional rights of the many victims, who have been injured and lost loved ones, to be injured and/or killed by drunk drivers?
The breath-test law needed to be in place as many people had yet to get the message and it seems it still has not sunk into many people’s heads that driving after drinking is criminal, even after several decades of public awareness campaigns.
It has been 41 years since my life was permanently altered by an impaired driver and yet, we still have to tolerate people who drink and then drive on our roads. I believe it is high time to have alcohol-detection technology in all vehicles, which measures the blood-alcohol concentration from the driver’s seat through normal breathing, and if the driver’s blood-alcohol concentration is over the limit, their vehicle won’t start, which prevents them from driving.
This technology should be installed in all newly built vehicles as standard safety equipment, and mandatory in all vehicles as standard safety equipment, just like seatbelts and airbags.
My hope and purpose is and has been to prevent death, injuries and suffering as a result of drinking and driving in the province of Ontario. In November 1994, I founded Orillia Against Drunk Driving in memory of my brother, whose life was snuffed out at 15 years of age by a drunk driver.
Doug Abernethy
Founder, Orillia Against Drunk Driving
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