The Changes In Toronto Drunk Driving Laws and Its Implications

Posted by Law Article on July 12th, 2009 at 03:02am

When the first cars and most important the mass production of cars were invented, no one could even imagine how big this industry will be. It took about hundred years and the cars rapidly multiplied in numbers, becoming an important element of our everyday life. Unfortunately they became not only a useful thing, but also made their own death toll and turned even the smallest road a pretty dangerous place. The worst part of the accidents is definitely driving under the influence of better to say drunk driving, as you will see in this article even the smallest changes in laws on drunk driving can lead to heated debates.The first rules regulating the driving under the influence were set with the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69, also known as Bill C-150. The bill made it a “per se” offence to drive with a blood alcohol content (BAC) in excess of milligrams of alcohol in 100 milliliters of blood. Also the Bill stated that a refusal of a police officer’s demand to provide a breath sample is an offence too. Still the drivers managed to handle small over the norm alcohol level with “two-beer” defense. The idea of this defense is following, people accused of driving with more than the norm set by the law (.08 milligrams of alcohol in 100 milliliters of blood) would often argue they had consumed just two beers. Also a popular statement is that the last beer was consumed not long before the breath test, so there is more alcohol in their breath than in their blood.An often used driver “two-beer” defense has been virtually abolished by a new federal legislation. The new changes, that are part of the federal government’s Tackling Violent Crime Act, kept the right to question the breathalyzer results, but only if the person provides the court with technical evidence proving the equipment was malfunctioning or wasn’t operated properly.Some lawyers stated that the new legislation is unconstitutional and they will appear before the Superior Court of Justice in Toronto to present their arguments. They try to resolve thing quickly, before the government can get on with the business of prosecuting impaired drivers. The main argument is that with this change divers will be unable to protect themselves if the equipment is really damaged or malfunctioning. Usually drivers don’t know much about breathalyzers and they won’t be able to present valid evidence to the court. Also the information of the breath machines, including maintenance records, specs and the manufacturers’ manual are kept secret and not available to casual driver who is stopped on the street. This turns a useful tool into a one-way guilty ticket, in case of malfunctioning.On the other side this change is positive for the police officers. Usually they are in a difficult situation. Some of the officers stated that they rely more on temporary license suspensions and not on the charges against drivers slightly over the limit, because the “two-beer” defense can easily beat these charges.

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