Impaired Driving

Driving when your ability is impaired by alcohol, or a drug is a crime in Canada. Your vehicle does not have to be moving; you can be charged if you are impaired behind the wheel, even if you have not started to drive.

In circumstances involving possible impairment by a drug or a combination of alcohol and a drug, police can require a driver to:

• provide breath samples
• perform standardized field sobriety tests
• conduct a drug recognition evaluation
• provide oral fluid, urine or blood samples for screening

If you fail or refuse to comply with any of these demands, you will be charged under the Criminal Code.

If you are 21 years of age and under, you must not drive if you have been drinking alcohol. Your blood- alcohol level must be zero.

For more information on impaired driving measures in Ontario, please visit the Ministry of Transportation website at: www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/safety/impaired-driving.shtml

Alcohol

The police can stop any driver to determine if alcohol or drug testing is required. They may also do roadside spot checks. When stopped by the police, you may be told to blow into an instrument that tests your breath for alcohol, a roadside screening device, or perform physical co-ordination tests.

If you cannot give a breath sample or it is impractical to obtain a sample of breath, the police officer can require you to provide a blood sample instead. The police may also require a driver to provide, blood, oral or urine samples. If you fail or refuse to comply with any of these demands, you will be charged under the Criminal Code.

Drugs

Criminal Code and HTA sanctions apply to drivers impaired by alcohol or a drug. In circumstances involving possible impairment by drugs or a combination of alcohol and a drug, police can require a driver to perform physical co-ordination tests and submit to a drug evaluation, and then require a driver to provide blood, oral fluid or urine samples. If you fail or refuse to comply with any of these demands, you will be charged under the Criminal Code.

Some drugs that your doctor may prescribe for you and some over-the-counter drugs can also impair your driving. Here are some points you should remember:

• If you use prescription medicines or get allergy shots, ask your doctor about side effects such as dizziness, blurred vision, nausea or drowsiness that could affect your driving.
• Read the information on the package of any over-the-counter medicine, including cold, allergy, sedative or diet pills.
• Drugs and any amount of alcohol together can have dangerous effects, even several days after you have taken the drug.
• Do not take a chance; ask your doctor or pharmacist.

Consider the consequences of impaired driving

Ontario leads the way in combating drinking and driving through some of the toughest laws and programs in North America, including licence suspensions, heavy fines, vehicle impoundment, mandatory alcohol-education and -treatment programs, and the ignition interlock program. Depending on your number of prior convictions, you may be fined up to $50,000, and serve time in jail or lose your licence permanently.

For impaired driving that causes injury or death, the penalties are even more severe. If you are convicted of impaired driving causing bodily harm, you may be sentenced to up to 14 years in prison. Impaired driving causing death can carry a sentence of imprisonment for life.

If you drink and drive and are involved in a collision, you may suffer serious injury or cause serious injury to someone else. Your insurance company might not pay for your medical or rehabilitation costs, or for the damage to your or the other person’s vehicle. Your insurance costs may rise significantly, and you may have to pay substantial legal costs as well.

If you are required to drive on the job, a licence suspension could mean losing your employment.

Driver-improvement interview

The other remedial-measures program is for drivers convicted of non-drinking-and-driving-related Criminal Code offences who have no previous alcohol-related convictions. You must undergo a Ministry of Transportation driver-improvement interview.

If you have not completed the driver-improvement interview by the time your Criminal Code suspension expires, your licence will be further suspended until you have completed the remedial requirements.

This program also applies to Ontario residents convicted of driving-related Criminal Code offences in any other province of Canada, or equivalent offences in the states of Michigan and New York, as well as to out-of-province drivers who are convicted in Ontario.