[Maritime Q-Scout]

We don't have all the facts to this situation.

I don't understand how someone who is incapable of blowing into a roadside device can be charged with failure to blow.

I don't understand how a court could uphold that conviction, especially when the accused went on her own accord to the hospital right away to have a blood test, a more intrusive test done to prove her innocence.

I don't understand why an appeal would be denied.

I don't know what happened between when the off duty officer telling the accused she phoned her in, and when the police actually showed up.

I wonder what would have happened if the old lady pulled out a bottle of hard liquor and chugged it on her front lawn. Obviously she'd fail a breathalyzer, but it's not illegal to drink on your own property. How can you prove beyond a reasonable doubt she was drunk while driving?


Other than how the RCMP allegedly treated the elderly lady, it doesn't appear they did anything "wrong". I'd assume the drinking & driving laws in BC are like they are out East, zero tolerance, meaning that the police don't have any leeway with regard to charging. Meaning if an elderly person is incapable of blowing into the roadside device, they failed the blow, and thus must be charged according to the letter of the law that they do not have any discretion over enforcing.

Based solely on the article posted above, it seems to me the courts failed here, and the legislature for not accommodating a situation such as this, not the RCMP.