Driving While Impaired - You may need legal help

Canadians take the issue of driving while impaired very seriously; visitors aren’t even allowed inside the country if they have an arrest for impaired driving on their records. There is no specific test required for police officers to determine that a person is impaired by drugs and alcohol beyond their ability safely to operate an automobile. In most cases, police are trained to observe for signs of impairment and criteria for arrest are determined by the officers’ judgment. This is usually sufficient evidence for a judge to convict the impaired driver.

Click Here to learn more about Prepaid Legal

The current legal level for impairment is a blood alcohol content (or BAC) of .08%, or 80 milligrams of alcohol for ever 100 millilitres of blood. However, there is legislation pending which would lower that amount to .05%, or 50 milligrams of alcohol for every 100 millilitres of blood.

Two kinds of laws

There are two different governmental departments which deal with impaired driving, depending on how high the BAC of a driver’s blood is. If it is under .08%, but greater than .05%, impairment is dealt with as a traffic violation and can be handled through traffic courts. In the majority of Canadian provinces, drivers who are impaired at this level will get their licenses suspended immediately, sometimes for as short a period as 24 hours, and sometimes for much longer. It is illegal to operate a car at this level of impairment, but it is not considered a criminal act.

However, if a person’s BAC is greater than .08%, they are then subject to the Federal Criminal Code, and can be charged as a criminal. In this case the penalties are very severe. If it is the person’s first offense, they will still be given the minimum fine, which is $600, and have their license suspended. Further offenses can garner up to five years in jail, which is the strictest sentence in the world for impaired driving. These harsh sentences seem justified, however, when one considers that over half of all impaired driving accidents and fatalities are caused by a driver with a BAC of nearly double the legal limit-- .15% or more. This represents a serious and dangerous level of impairment, and Canadian criminal penalties target this group more than any other.

Who are the worst offenders?

Of course, impaired drivers can come from any socioeconomic or educational level. But statistics have shown that there is a group of consistent offenders who are responsible for more accidents and deaths than any other.

Impaired drivers are more likely to be:

• Between the ages of 25 and 34.
  
• Frequent, heavy drinkers. Many are alcoholics, and many are caught with a blood alcohol content of several times the .08% legal limit.
  
• Repeat offenders. If they are caught, they are not strangers to the police or the system.
  
• Low income. Statistics show that a full 43% of these high-level offenders have no income at all, and another 41% make less than $30,000 per year.

Prepaid legal will help you save money on legal bills and help you understand and exercise your rights if you've been charged with driving while impaired.

Click Here to learn more about Prepaid Legal

Prepaid Legal is available in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario.