Put a circle around December 18th, next Tuesday, on your calendar, especially if you like to have a drink or two when you are out and about during the festive season. That’s when new, stricter drunk driving laws come into effect. All the focus lately has been on drug-impaired driving with the legalization of recreational cannabis. However, impaired driving due to alcohol is still a big problem and under the new laws police will be able to demand a breathalyzer test even if the driver is showing no signs of alcohol impairment. Up until now, police officers have needed reasonable grounds to conduct a breath test such as bloodshot eyes, slurring, the smell of alcohol, a driver stumbling, or admission of drinking. As of Tuesday, police can do roadside screening breath tests for alcohol impairment for anyone operating a motor vehicle. This is probably a good thing in a province with historically high rates of impaired driving such as, oh, say, Saskatchewan for instance. I know some lawyers will disagree and say the new law goes too far and that it will most likely be tested in court. However, one would think that even if you haven’t been drinking and you are slightly inconvenienced by having to take a breathalyzer test anyway, why would you get all huffy about it? Studies have shown that countries that have implemented this type of alcohol screening law have managed to reduce death rates by 25%. That’s good enough for me. Bring on that breathalyzer.
That’s Coffeetalk. I’m Vic Dubois.