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Impaired Driving

Impaired driving is the most common crime committed in Canada. It is also the greatest cause of criminal injury and death.

It is an offence to drive, or have care or control of a motor vehicle, while your ability to drive is impaired by alcohol or any other drug. Impairment is shown by physical symptoms, such as slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, the smell of alcohol, unsteadiness on your feet or a lack of co-ordination. It may also be shown by the way you drive.

Drugs:

It is essential to understand the effect of any drug you are taking before operating a motor vehicle. Mood-altering (psychoactive) drugs are of particular concern because they can change the way you think, behave and physically respond. The following is a partial list of mood-altering drugs:

Depressants:
  • Alcohol

  • Sedatives (Halcion)

  • Minor Tranquillizers (Valium, Ativan)

  • Narcotic analgesics (heroin, morphine, codeine, Talwin)

Stimulants:

  • Amphetamines

  • Cocaine

Other:

  • Hallucinogens (LSD, MDA, mescaline)

  • Cannabis (marijuana, hashish)

Some prescription mood-altering drugs include antidepressants such as Prozac and other medications for depression, manic depression and psychosis. For information on the effects and potential side effects of a mood-altering drug ask your pharmacist or doctor.

The Effects of Mixing Alcohol and Other Drugs

Mixing alcohol with other drugs can cause a serious reaction. This is especially dangerous when the use of a motor vehicle is involved.

For example:

Two drinks of an alcoholic beverage in combination with one normal dose of a common tranquilizer equals the impairment level produced by six drinks. Remember that one bottle of beer is equal to one and a quarter ounces of liquor or four ounces of wine.

Two drinks of an alcoholic beverage and one light dose of marijuana can equal the impairment produced by five drinks.

If you are taking medication or a drug, know what the results of "mixing" will be before drinking. This advice is true whether the drug is by a doctor's prescription, "off the shelf" or "off the street."

Legal Consequences

If you drive impaired, there are several legal consequences:

  • You can receive a 24-hour roadside suspension of your driver's license.
  • You can be charged with a crime under the federal Criminal Code and sentenced in criminal court to a fine and/or time in jail.
  • You can lose your driver's license under the provincial Highway Traffic Act and be prohibited by the criminal court from operating a motor vehicle on any street, road, highway or any other public place in Canada.
  • You can be required to take treatment programs for problems with alcohol.
  • Your vehicle can be impounded and you will be responsible for towing and storage charges.
  • Your car insurance rates will increase.
  • If people are injured or killed, or their property damaged, you can be sued or sent to jail.

Penalties

There are penalties under both the provincial Highway Traffic Act and the federal Criminal Code of Canada. The Highway Traffic Act allows for:

  • A 24-hour roadside driving suspension for blowing fail or warn on an approved screening device.
  • An administrative driving prohibition of 90 days if you are under 19 years of age or have been licensed for less than 2 years and show any blood alcohol level.
  • An administrative driving prohibition of 90 days if you refuse or fail the Breathalyzer.
  • Impoundment of your vehicle for 30 days if your refusal or failure of the Breathalyzer takes place while your license is cancelled for a similar offence.
  • Impoundment of your vehicle for 60 days if your license is cancelled at the time you refuse or fail the Breathalyzer and this takes place within 2 years of another conviction for a similar offence.
  • Drivers convicted of a first offence for impaired driving will have their driver's license cancelled for one year by the province.
  • For a second conviction, drivers receive a three year cancellation.
  • A third or subsequent conviction results in a five year cancellation (this refers to offences committed within a five-year period).

Application of Drinking and Driving Laws:

People often don't understand the ways that drinking and driving laws work. Many people do not realize that the drinking and driving offences apply:

  • whether your motor vehicle is moving or parked. All that needs to be shown is that you had "care" or "control" of the vehicle. Simply being in the driver's seat, or around your car with the keys in your pocket or purse, could mean the judge may find that you had care or control.

  • whether you are on public or private property. It is no defence to say you were on a private property, like a parking lot, driveway, or your own back yard.

  • whether you were in a car or another type of vehicle. These laws cover all kinds of motor vehicles, such as a truck, motorcycle, snowmobile, all-terrain vehicle, moped, ride-on lawnmower, boat, or airplane.

  • whether the motor vehicle was operational or not. A motor vehicle is still a motor vehicle even if it is out of gas, the battery is dead or other mechanical failures have happened to it.

Your Driver's License

Roadside Suspension

Your driving privileges can be affected even before you are charged or convicted. Peace officers can issue a 24-hour "on-the-spot" roadside suspension of your driver's license if you blow a "warn" or "fail" on the approved screening device. If you are under 19 years of age or have held a license for less than 2 years, you can receive a roadside suspension for any blood alcohol reading on an approved screening device.

Further consequences result if you get a drinking and driving conviction.

Administrative Driving Prohibition

Peace officers can suspend your driver's license for a period of 90 days if you fail or refuse a screening device. If you are under 19 years or have held a license for less than 2 years and show any blood alcohol count, you can receive the same 90 day driving suspension. This suspension takes effect 7 days after the offence takes place.

A Driving Ban

As part of your sentence, the judge will order you not to drive for a minimum of one year anywhere in Canada. This is called a driving ban or driving prohibition.

A person convicted of driving while his or her license is under cancellation for impaired driving will receive a further six month cancellation to be served after the expiry of the first one.

Losing Your License

Besides the driving ban, provincial law also cancels your driver's license for a drinking and driving conviction, and disqualifies you from getting a new license. If it's your first offence, you cannot re-apply for a driver's license for one year. You cannot re-apply for a license for three years for a second offence, and five years for three or more offences.

If you are convicted in another province, territory or state and a notice is sent to PEI, your license in PEI will also be cancelled.

No exceptions are made to allow you to drive at special times or for employment purposes.

Getting Your License Back

You do not automatically get your driver's license back at the end of your cancellation. You must re-apply and pay a reinstatement fee. You also have to meet certain requirements, such as:

  • If it was a first offence, you must complete the driver's rehabilitation course, which is a five hour educational program on drinking and driving and the effects of alcohol, put on by Highway Safety Operations.

  • For a second offence, you must have an interview with a driver improvement officer and complete a driver risk analysis. If you are considered "low-risk" or "medium-risk" for re-offending, you will be referred to the driver rehabilitation program. If you are considered "high-risk," you will be referred to Addiction Services for an assessment and treatment program recommendations. The recommended program must be completed before you can reapply to have your license reinstated.

  • If you have three or more lifetime convictions, you will be required to have an assessment by an addiction services counsellor. If the counsellor says you have a problem with alcohol, you must successfully complete whatever treatment is recommended.

  • The Registrar of Motor Vehicles can refuse to give you back your driver's license if he or she doesn't think your drinking and driving problem has improved or if you are deemed to be a "risk."

Your Car Insurance

A drinking and driving conviction affects your car insurance. If you have an accident while drinking, your insurance company may not pay for injuries to you or your passengers, or for damage to your vehicle. It will usually pay for injuries or property damage to others.

Whether there was an accident or not, a conviction for drinking and driving means an increase in your car insurance premiums. The insurance company could refuse to insure you in the future. It is against the law to drive without insurance. The insurance consequences are the same for all drinking and driving offences. It is not true that the insurance company treats you more lightly if you are convicted of refusal.
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