Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Driving under the legal limit? Doesn't matter, your vehicle is impounded anyway.

GP_Matt · 06-14-2012, 10:06 AM

I was replying to jar_e's claim that the new law just ups the punishment for something that was already banned.

As for the new law, I am strongly against anything that limits our access to the court system and sidesteps the actual legal process by calling it an administrative penalty instead of a law.

The whole point of this new law seems to be about appearing to do something to solve a problem while not actually solving the problem. The majority of deaths from drinking and driving are from drivers who are heavily intoxicated and yet they are doing nothing to stop them. Many of them are going to court and fighting their charges successfully so the province is coming up with a way to work around the courts. The much better move in my opinion would be to look into why the conviction rate for drunk driving is so low and work on fixing that. Maybe the police need to do a better job documenting the arrest or the prosecutors need to do a better job producing experts to counter the claims of the defendants experts. I don't really know the solution but suspect that there is something that can be done to work within the existing rules.

And if they study the issue and determine that people between 0.05 and 0.08 are impaired enough that it effects their driving then I will be fully in support of changing the actual law to make doing so a crime. (on that note, there must be studies out there that have looked at the effects of alcohol in that range on driving ability, has anyone seen any?)

06-14-2012, 10:06 AM	#602
GP_Matt First Line Centre Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Edmonton Exp:	I was replying to jar_e's claim that the new law just ups the punishment for something that was already banned. As for the new law, I am strongly against anything that limits our access to the court system and sidesteps the actual legal process by calling it an administrative penalty instead of a law. The whole point of this new law seems to be about appearing to do something to solve a problem while not actually solving the problem. The majority of deaths from drinking and driving are from drivers who are heavily intoxicated and yet they are doing nothing to stop them. Many of them are going to court and fighting their charges successfully so the province is coming up with a way to work around the courts. The much better move in my opinion would be to look into why the conviction rate for drunk driving is so low and work on fixing that. Maybe the police need to do a better job documenting the arrest or the prosecutors need to do a better job producing experts to counter the claims of the defendants experts. I don't really know the solution but suspect that there is something that can be done to work within the existing rules. And if they study the issue and determine that people between 0.05 and 0.08 are impaired enough that it effects their driving then I will be fully in support of changing the actual law to make doing so a crime. (on that note, there must be studies out there that have looked at the effects of alcohol in that range on driving ability, has anyone seen any?)