Number of impaired driving cases going to court increasing, convictions decreasing

The Traffic Injury Research Foundation has identified a growing number of cases in which people are charged with criminal drinking and driving offences, plead not guilty and then take their chances at trial.
More than 40% of Canadian drunk driving cases are going to trial, the TIRF reports.
“This finding is likely a result of two factors,” said Robyn Robertson, president and CEO of TIRF. “First, given the mandatory penalties and provincial consequences of conviction, Crown prosecutors have limited latitude on sentencing submissions and are less able, and maybe less willing, to negotiate pleas involving, for example, no jail time or reduced licence suspensions.”
Second, “and more importantly,” Robertson said, “defence counsel know that they have a good shot at getting an acquittal at trial by raising constitutional challenges or a defence such as ‘evidence to the contrary.’” TIRF research showed the number of such challenges and defences is growing, she added.
While the number of cases going to trial is increasing, the likelihood of conviction is decreasing, the TIRF release says.
Overall, on a national basis, an estimated 72% of drivers are convicted, compared to the 90% reported in the early 1990s.
Finite resources combined with heavy caseloads increases difficulty of getting a conviction at trial, the TIRF continues.
Research revealed that Crown prosecutors handle four times as many cases as the defence, meaning that the defence counsel are able to spend two to four times as many hours preparing the cases.