An outrage
Education, stiffer penalties... but the lengthy court dockets tell us too many people still don’t grasp the human toll that comes with drinking and driving
Over the past four months, RCMP members in Nova Scotia charged 412 motorists with impaired driving offences, relating to either drugs or alcohol.
Although the February and January’s figures (49 and 96, respectively) are down from both December (147 offences) and November (120 offences), those overall statistics are alarming nonetheless, officials say.
“It is concerning,” said RCMP Cpl. and provincial spokesperson Jennifer Clarke. “I will note that the overall numbers for this past month ( January) are lower than the previous two months when you look at the totals, which is not a bad thing, but it’s very important to look at the difference in the overall trends and to pass it on to our members and make sure everyone is aware of what we’re seeing for trends, and then readjust our strategies,” she said.
“And what we do with that information is, we bring it back to our members and sometimes adjust how we enforce the impaired driving laws. But it’s very important that we do have the ability to look at the stats and analyze them and perhaps reevaluate where we go from here and how we do target enforcement of impaired driving.”
Statistics show that the overall numbers of drivers convicted of drinking or drug offences in Nova Scotia have also been declining over the past decade. But those totals indicate there are still far too many impaired drivers on the roads, officials say.
And, most concerning from Clarke’s perspective at the moment, is that the number of drivers being charged with driving while under the influence of a drug is showing a drastic increase.
That was especially so in
January when RCMP officers charged 27 motorists with being impaired by drug, compared to five in December and seven in November. And those numbers only reflect the charges laid by RCMP members and do not include offences registered by municipal police officers.
“The courts reported statistics are alarming,” said Truro Crown attorney Thomas Kayter of impaired driving convictions.
“The statistics that we have are high across the whole province, not just here. But they are particularly high in Colchester and a single statistic is one too many,” he said. “But the statistics that we have here are an absolute outrage on society.”
According to numbers compiled by the Nova Scotia Prosecution Service, between April 1, 2018 and March 31, 2019, there were 2,685 motorists convicted in Nova Scotia of drinking and driving offences. For the same period in 2008- 09, a total of 3,770 motorists received drinking and driving convictions in Nova Scotia courts, for an overall reduction of 1,085 convictions over the past 11 years.
“The statistics that we have are high across the whole province... but they are particularly high in Colchester and a single statistic is one too many.” – Crown attorney Thomas Kayter
Those numbers have been steadily declining over the same period, except in the 2013-14 fiscal year when the numbers increased to 3,488 from 3,351 the previous year, and in 2016-17 when they increased to 3,211 from 3,193 in 2015-16.
“The Crown views impaired driving as a very serious offence and makes every effort to hold those who offend accountable to the full extent that the law allows,” Kayter said.
Convictions registered in Truro provincial court show that area has recorded the province’s third-highest impaired driving convictions for three of the past 11 years, including in 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2016-17.
For the other eight years, Truro recorded the fourth highest number of impaired driving convictions.
Over the same period, Dartmouth recorded the highest number of impaired convictions for eight of the 11 years, followed closely by Halifax in second. Halifax showed the highest number of convictions for three years over that period while Sydney carried the
third-highest spot for eight of the past 11 years.
A recent day’s docket in Truro provincial court contained 77 charges, 26 of which were for impaired driving offences.
Although Kayter later suggested that breakdown as a bit of an “anomaly,” perhaps related to the Christmas holidays, the “troubling” number of alcohol/drug driving offences on the docket was high enough to prompt a rare statement from Judge Al Bégin prior to the day’s proceedings.
“I have no idea what it will take to get the message through to the citizens of Colchester County that it is incredibly dangerous and irresponsible to be drinking and driving,” the judge said. “Hopefully the message gets out soon before we add to the staggering number of fatalities and injuries of members of our own community.”
Bégin went on to say that while the Supreme Court of Canada has proclaimed drinking and driving as the country’s most preventable crime, people continue to be killed or injured on Canadian roads every day.
For years, MADD Canada has used figures provided by the Canadian Council of Mo
tor Transport Administrators (CCMTA) that say four people are killed and 175 persons are injured every day on Canadian roads by drivers impaired by either alcohol or drugs.
“As long as I’ve been a police officer impaired driving has been a problem,” added Clarke, a 24-year veteran. “We need to continue getting out there and addressing the problem.”
The RCMP stats for January show 34 drivers were charged with impaired operation by alcohol, 27 were allegedly impaired by drug, eight were charged with refusing a blood/ breath sample demand and one driver complied with a demand for a blood sample due to suspected drug-impaired driving. Another 26 motorists were issued driving suspensions for operating a vehicle while having consumed alcohol.
Sgt. Andy O’brien of the Colchester RCMP detachment also acknowledged that, while the overall stats may be down and that impaired driving has become less socially acceptable in recent years, the job of eliminating drinking and driving is far from done.
“We’re still nowhere close to where we need to be,” he said.