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Three-day roadside suspensions for drug-impaired Ontario drivers start Oct. 2


September 29, 2016   by Canadian Underwriter


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Effective this Monday, Ontario police will be able to impose three-day roadside licence suspensions for drivers found to be operating vehicles while impaired by a drug or by a combination of drugs and alcohol.

The Transportation Statute Law Amendment Act (Making Ontario’s Roads Safer) – Bill 31 under the previous session of the legislature – was passed into law June 2, 2015.

Starting Oct. 2, drivers under the influence of drugs will face “an immediate licence suspension of three days for the first occurrence, seven days for the second occurrence and 30 days for the third and subsequent occurrences upon failure of a roadside sobriety test,” the province’s transportation ministry stated Wednesday in a release.

Driving Under The Influence Concept

“Under impaired driving, Ontario is one of only three jurisdictions in Canada that currently has no sanctions for drug-impaired driving,” said Bob Bailey, Progressive Conservative MPP for Sarnia-Lambton, in December, 2014 during a debate on Bill 31 in the Ontario legislature.

The Highway Traffic Act already provided “administrative driver’s licence suspensions where a person is found to be driving a motor vehicle or operating a vessel with a blood alcohol concentration of over 50 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood or over 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, or where a person fails or refuses to provide a sample, perform physical co-ordination tests or submit to an evaluation under section 254 of the Criminal Code,” the government stated in an explanatory note to Bill 31. “Under section 48 (the over .05 section), the licence is suspended for three days for a first suspension, seven days for a second suspension and 30 days for a third or subsequent suspension. Under section 48.3 (the over .08 and failure to complete tests section), the licence is suspended for 90 days.”

Two new sections of the Highway Traffic Act now “mirror” the existing sections for drunk drivers, “where a person is driving a motor vehicle or operating a vessel while impaired by a drug or by a combination of a drug and alcohol.”

During legislative committee hearings on Bill 31, MPPs heard from speakers including Scott Watson, manager of government relations for Parachute – a national charity focused on injury prevention.

“I think that next frontier, in terms of impaired driving and drugs, is roadside testing,” Watson told the Standing Committee on General Government, in March, 2015, in reply to a question from Jeff Yurek, PC MPP for Elgin-Middlesex London. “I know working with our partners at MTO, there are a couple of things in the pipeline that will help our officers administer roadside tests for drug-impaired driving. I hope there’s an emphasis on that going forward, in terms of something that will stand up harder in court. Right now, this bill gives a little more discretion, in terms of determining impairedness, but I think that’s the way to go, in terms of quantifying an impaired drugged driver.”

The government stated Wednesday that in addition to immediate license suspensions, drivers under the influence of drugs also face a $180 penalty, starting Oct. 2.

The also face “a possible 90-day licence suspension and a seven-day vehicle impoundment following further testing by a drug recognition expert at a police station,” the provincial government stated.

They could also face “mandatory education or treatment programs, and installation of an ignition interlock device in their vehicle, for drivers with two or more licence suspensions involving alcohol or drugs within a 10-year period.”


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5 Comments » for Three-day roadside suspensions for drug-impaired Ontario drivers start Oct. 2
  1. PeterPiper says:

    Ever been charged having red eyes after you cough or sneeze? Well now you can. I prefer my charges have a metric and until LE can figure out how to measure your drug impairment this is all discretionary and an utter joke. Good luck getting convictions based on “well his eyes were red”….

  2. Barry Allen says:

    Talk about jumping the gun …. Alcohol impairment is real … And detection is easily proven …. Marijuana is still illegal
    ( except medical ) Other than smell … There is no accurate way of proving any degree of “impairment” and effects from one toker to another can be significant … It has actually been proven that consuming THC can improve one’s alertness !
    Big Brother … LUA !

  3. Iain Fletcher says:

    Police say most of those charges are not marijuana-related; most cases are related to prescription drugs… bad choice of graphic… how about a picture of a pharmacy? 😉

  4. G.R. says:

    How will this work for people who drive on a daily basis, who take prescription pain medication daily, or wear transdermal patches such as Morphine, etc.? I realize that people on these medications have a tolerance, and may be able to operate a motor vehichle with no issues, but I just wonder where this type of issue will come into play.

  5. Mat says:

    Wow, I guess all the those Tylenol and Advil users are pretty screwed now.

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