Scenario:
Johnny,17, was at a party at
the start of the summer and he wanted to celebrate. At this party they were
serving alcoholic drinks. Johnny had 6 beers to drink. After some dancing, he
decided to go home because he had a 2 AM curfew.
Johnny: I need to get home
before 2am or my parents are going to be so mad!
Sam: You can’t drive home
you had a lot to drink.
Johnny: It’s okay dude, I
can handle it. My place is only a 15 minute drive away.
Sam: I really don’t think
you should drive, you can’t even walk in a straight line.
Johnny: Dude, seriously
relax, I will be fine
Sam: Alright, if you say
so. Call me when you get home.
Johnny: Peace!
Did Sam handle the
situation well? Since Johnny was intoxicated, Sam could have taken matters into
his own hands and taken Johnny’s car keys away.
As Johnny was driving home,
he saw sirens in his rear view mirror, it was the police. Johnny pulled over
and waited for the police officer to approach his vehicle. Johnny was very
afraid at this moment because he was worried about being charged with some form
of drunk driving offence.
Officer: Can I see your
license and registration please?
Johnny: Yes, you can.
Officer: You smell like
alcohol. Have you been drinking tonight?
Johnny: I had a little bit
to drink Officer.
The police asked him to
submit to a breathalyzer sample. Not wanting to get in any more trouble, Johnny
complied and blew into the breathalyzer. His blood alcohol content revealed
that he had more than 80 mg of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The
officer arrested Johnny on the spot and he is now concerned about the legal
ramifications of what he has done.
The Law: Impaired Driving and Driving with Blood Alcohol Over 0.08
There are a number of legal
issues at work here. This blog post post focuses on drunk driving. Please read other
JFCY posts on underage
drinking; see also Concerts
and Underage Drinking, and on what happens if you drive with alcohol in
your system on a G2 license.
Across Canada
With high blood alcohol
levels, adults and youths may be charged with impaired driving. Impaired
driving, which means driving while your ability is affected by alcohol or
drugs, is a crime under the Criminal Code of Canada under Section 253(1)(a). Driving with a blood
alcohol content of 0.08 or more is also a crime under Section 253(1)(b). Your vehicle does not even have to be moving; you can be charged if you
are impaired behind the wheel, even if you have not started to drive.
It is also a criminal
offence to refuse to provide a breathalyzer sample without a reasonable excuse.
Not knowing you have to provide a sample, or saying that a lawyer told you not
to blow for a breathalyzer are NOT reasonable excuses. This is covered by
Section 254 of the Criminal Code which also explains how the breathalyzer
process works.
Since Johnny is a youth,
between the ages of 12 and 17, the Youth Criminal Justice Act applies to him. As a result it is not
possible to predict as clearly what sentence he could get if found guilty.
However, this also changes the way the police officer must interact with
Johnny. For example, s. 146 of the YCJA
imposes a different standard for obtaining evidence, not binding youth to
certain written and/or oral statements that were obtained when the youth didn’t have
the opportunity to speak with a parent and/or alawyer. Also, police must speak to youth using words that the youth is able to understand.
Please note that there are
additional penalties related to the Highway
Traffic Act in Ontario
The scenario and conclusion were written by PLE Team volunteer Diana Rozo (a York U student). Legal info was written by JFCY summer law student Jeremy Ozier and reviewed by JFCY.
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