Impaired Driving

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.

Fatigue is a challenge for many workers, but for drivers it creates a serious safety risk. Drivers have slower reaction times and poorer concentration, which can lead to crashes and injuries.

The case of McLeod v British Columbia (Superintendent of Motor Vehicles) and The Attorney General of British Columbia challenges the constitutionality of s. 320.27(2) of the Criminal Code, which authorizes mandatory alcohol screening (MAS) of drivers for the presence of alcohol as an investigatory tool. Norma McLeod and Nicole Quashnick say that it infringes their ss. 8, 9 and 10(b) rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Party Hearty! Early in my policing career it was not uncommon to find a drunk driver with a blood alcohol level between .30 and .36. These people were truly drunk and not just impaired as most of us would start to be at the .05 level. Time to head for home and sleep it off because some of us have to be at work in the morning.

The Canadian Center for Drug Abuse and Addiction has released a report titled Measuring the Impact of Drug Impaired Driving. The report suggests that not enough is known about driving while impaired by drugs other than alcohol and its effects on people living in Canada.

The background to this document states that: "As the prevalence of alcohol-impaired driving decreases, and as more jurisdictions decriminalize or legalize cannabis, it is increasingly important for policy makers to have accurate information on the prevalence and pattern of drug driving."

Webinar hosted by the BC Injury Prevention Unit and conducted by Dr. Jeff Brubacher, Associate Professor, Dept. of Emergency Medicine, University of British Columbia. Unfortunately, the video sound is poor.