“The Warn Range”

Impaired drivers in Ontario will be facing harsher penalties beginning tomorrow.

Previously, drivers with a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) between 0.05 and 0.08 had their license suspended for only 12 hours – about the same amount of time it would probably take you to sleep off the night’s festivities.

Starting May 1st however, if you blow a 0.5 or higher – you could be facing some pretty hefty penalties.

Here’s a breakdown of the new legislation:
 

FORMER LAW All Offenses 12 hour license suspension

NEW LAW First Offence 3 day license suspension $150 fine Second Offense within 5 years 7 day license suspension Mandatory alcohol education program $150 fine Third Offense within 5 years 30 day license suspension Mandatory alcohol treatment program Alcohol breath screening device installed on the offenders ignition for six months** $150 fine Subsequent Offenses within 5 years 30 day license suspension Mandatory alcohol treatment program Mandatory medical examination Alcohol breath screening device installed on the offenders ignition for six months** $150 fine **At the offenders expense. Alternatively, you can forgo installation, and instead have your licence suspended for the 6 month period

 
Yikes! According to The Original Blood Alcohol Calculator, if I have 2 glasses of wine with dinner (assuming dinner is roughly 1 1/2 hours long), my BAC will be 0.04 – and dangerously close to the first level offense.

Take note of this, too: if you get nabbed by Police, there’s nothing you can do; A lawyer won’t be able to stop your license from being suspended, and each suspension will be recorded. 

According to a survey conducted by Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators just 4 years ago, only half of the respondents knew their province had a lower alcohol limit at which point police can suspend driving privileges. Only 6% of respondants actually knew what the limit was. 

The new changes to the impaired driving law in Ontario have been advertised, marketed, and advertised again over the past few months. I can’t drive down the 401 without seeing a glaring digital sign announcing “new legislation” take effect May 1.

The Canadian Law remains the same, however – if you blow over 0.08, you’ll be facing criminal charges and penalties.

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Tagged as: impaired driving, new legislation, Ontario