New rules for breath tests come into effect Dec.18
Police will be able to demand samples from every driver they pull over
Alberta RCMP hope new rules that allow them to demand a breath sample from any driver they pull over will deter drunk drivers from getting on the road.
The mandatory alcohol screening that comes into effect on Dec. 18 means officers can approach every car they pull over with a portable Breathalyzer for screening.
RCMP traffic services Supt. Gary Graham and Sgt. Brent Robinson, an impaired driving specialist with the RCMP traffic unit, demonstrated the test Monday at K Division headquarters.
Graham said on Dec. 1, RCMP officers took part in National Impaired Driving Enforcement Day. Out of the 11,895 vehicles checked by the Alberta RCMP on that day, 23 charges were laid for alcoholrelated impairment and two were laid for drug-related impairment.
“Impaired driving remains one of the leading criminal causes of death and injury in Canada,” Graham said. “Mandatory alcohol screening is said to be considered one of the most significant public safety tools available to police.”
He said the test is used in several countries, such as Australia and Ireland, and the results have been good. Ireland, for example, has shown a 40 per cent decrease in alcohol impaired driving charges in the past three years, something he attributed to the program.
However, while the police support the program, others have some questions.
Kyla Lee, a criminal lawyer with Acumen Law in Vancouver, said she believes the test is unconstitutional because it violates the section of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms that defends Canadians against unreasonable search and seizure.
“If police write off other reasons for bad driving and focus solely on alcohol-impairment, it leads to wrongly charged and arrested people,” Lee said in a phone interview Monday.
Under the law, the results of the test can allow the police to demand a second, more sophisticated test with an approved screening device, which can involve obtaining a sample of a body fluid to further test for alcohol as well as drugs in the driver’s system.
The secondary test that came into effect with part one of Bill C-46, which made changes to the drug- and alcohol-impaired driving charges in the Criminal Code and other acts in June, is the oral fluid screening device, which can be used to swab saliva from drivers and analyze it for drugs.
Lee said she feels it doesn’t make sense for police to be able to randomly test for alcohol and not for drugs, as it’s often easier to tell if someone is drunk than high.
“We don’t even know what reasonable suspicion looks like (for drugged driving) and it doesn’t make sense that they would keep the standard in place for the thing that’s harder to identify.”
For now, since the test can only detect alcohol in humans, it’s up to police discretion if they think a driver might be on drugs.
Graham said that everyone must play a role in helping keep drunk and drugged drivers off the street.
“We all need to work together, so everyone gets home safe.”