Ontario’s Legal Changes to Address Impaired Driving

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BEN AZIMI /
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Ontario’s Legal Changes to Address Impaired Driving

Ontario’s Legal Changes to Address Impaired Driving

Both the federal (e.g. in the Criminal Code of Canada) and provincial governments have laws that prohibit impaired driving. Impaired driving is an offence that involves the use or care and control of a vehicle while impaired. Impairment can be drug- or alcohol-induced impairment. A vehicle encompasses not only cars, trucks and jeeps, but also boats, snowmobiles, off-road vehicles, aircraft and railway equipment. Use and care and control of a vehicle is broader than putting it in motion and includes, e.g., being in the driver’s seat while impaired. Impairment can be determined following a drug recognition evaluation or breath sample measuring blood alcohol content (BAC).

10,000 impaired driving charges were laid by the OPP in 2023. Polling suggests many Canadians believed cannabis legalization would lead to an increase in drug-impaired driving incidents.

The Ontario government is planning to implement new changes to address impaired driving:

• A requirement to install an interlock ignition device (e.g. an alcohol breath screening device that prevents a vehicle from starting if the presence of alcohol is detected) and mandatory remedial education for first- and second-time drug- or alcohol-related offences;

• A lifetime driving license suspension for impaired driving causing death;

• An increase in immediate roadside license suspensions for first- and second-time impaired driving offences - from three to seven days and from seven to 14 days, respectively;

• Investment in a campaign to educate the public, particularly youth, about the dangers of impaired driving, particularly involving cannabis use.

The purpose of the legislation is to decrease impaired driving by increasing penalties for those who drive while intoxicated, according to Ontario’s Transportation Minister. Ontario’s Energy Minister said that the changes are intended to deter impaired driving across the province. The changes are welcomed by public interest groups, like MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving).

It is an ongoing debate how best to confront this societal issue. General legislative approaches have included: impaired driving enforcement (e.g. traffic stops such as the Reduced Impaired Driving Everywhere or RIDE program), investment in training of police on techniques to detect signs of impairment, legal driving age, legal age to buy cannabis or alcohol, graduated driver’s licensing, lowering legal BAC, restricting alcohol’s availability (e.g. to licensed establishments), public education and imposing sanctions for impaired driving offences.

In some cases, the government introduces legislative changes that are later struck down by courts as being unconstitutional. In a constitutional challenge, an accused argues that a law violates their constitutional right. The court determines constitutionality by balancing individual rights and public interests (e.g. road safety). Some of the impaired driving legal changes may be challenged.

It is a fact that any drinking, even moderate drinking, can impair driving tasks, such as by decreasing one’s reaction time and slowing one’s decision-making processes. Impairment also depends on many individual factors (such as metabolism, drinking pace, food consumption, age and gender). When attending social occasions and consuming alcohol, one should have a plan for a safe way to get home just in case oneself, or a designated driver, becomes impaired. A backup plan may include calling a friend, arranging for a taxi or taking the bus.