Teenage Drunk Driving

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, it is a criminal offence to operate a vehicle while impaired by alcohol or drugs and/or while having a blood alcohol content of 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood or more  (called “0.08”).

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. If convicted or found guilty, you will be sentenced by a court.  

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 that will apply. Please see the JFCY blog post on G2 license offences for more information.

Now although this scenario didn’t turn out fatal, it is very possible it may have. Johnny might have killed someone on his way home. This is one fatally which happened in Toronto recently. This was the end result...

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. 

G2 License Rules

Scenario

http://images.3aw.com.au/2012/08/23/3576849/230812-Road-Cars.jpg

Naomi (age 17) is very excited that she has just recently passed her G2 driver’s test! Although she was grateful that she had had the opportunity to drive as much as possible with her G1, she thinks it is liberating to finally be able to drive on her own without her Mom or Dad in the passenger’s seat.

Without having her parents in the car, Naomi will finally be able to have the independence to drive to school, to the mall, and to the parties her friends throw every weekend, as long as she is back by the curfew her parents have established for her. Although having her G2 will allow Naomi to have some freedom, she is confused about the restrictions that seem to be in place regarding those who hold a G2 license.

One Friday, Naomi is at a house party her friend Kelly is hosting. Naomi arrives at 10:30 pm and everyone is drinking alcohol. Naomi decides to have one beer. [Please see the JFCY blog for issues related to alcohol. Please also read the newsletter that discusses houseparties. Underage drinking is illegal in Canada, and the age for legally drinking alcohol in Ontario is 19.] 

Just after midnight, Naomi decides she needs to leave to make it home in time for her 12:30 curfew. She decides to drive her friends Laura and James home, who live only a couple streets away from her. As she is driving home, she accidentally drives through a stop sign she hadn’t seen while going 35 kilometres over the speed limit. Much to her dismay, a police car had spotted Naomi’s driving offences and pulls her over.

Naomi is terrified. She has never been stopped by the police, and is afraid that on top of her traffic violations she has also violated the restrictions placed on her G2 license.

Legal Information on G2 licenses:

The legal information deals with the G2 License rules in Ontario. (There are also possible criminal charges but they will not be addressed in this post.)

The G2 License rules come from regulations under the Highway Traffic Act, specifically the Regulation called Driver’s Licenses, which sets out most of the rules regarding G2 licenses.

Alcohol consumption

While driving with a G2 license, a driver of any age is not allowed to consume any alcohol before driving.  Also, all drivers under the age of 21 (regardless of whether they have their full license) are not allowed to consume alcohol before driving.

The penalties for driving with alcohol in your system when under 21 or with a G2 can range from $60 to $500 upon conviction, along with a suspension of up to 30 days for a first offence. As well, there can be a 24 hour road side suspension of a license even before a conviction.

To learn more on drinking and driving under the G2 license. Click here.

Passengers

Naomi may also be violating the rules on number of passengers allowed while driving with a G2 license. During the day, the number of passengers is limited to the number of working seatbelts. However, at night the rules are more restrictive.

If Naomi has had her G2 license for less than six months and is aged 19 and under, she cannot carry a passenger aged 19 and under between midnight and 5 a.m. After the first six months, G2 drivers aged 19 and under cannot carry more than three passengers aged 19 and under between midnight and 5 a.m.

These restrictions do not apply to a G2 driver aged 19 and under if the G2 driver is accompanied by a G class driver in the front seat, or the passengers are immediate family members.

Since Naomi has violated the rules around passenger numbers she will be subject to a suspension as outlined in the Novice Driver Escalating Sanction Scheme. (see below)

How do you get convicted for a G2-type offence?

    

G2-type offences are NOT criminal offences.  They are “provincial offences”. If someone is caught committing a G2-type offence they can be charged.  The charging process starts when a person (the defendant) is given a certificate of offence (kind of like a ticket) by a provincial offences officer, which can include a police officer and a municipal offences officer. The details for these proceedings can be found in the Provincial Offences Act. The authority for the application to G2 offences is found in the regulation under the act, Proceedings Commenced by a Certificate of Offence.

Where a provincial offences officer proceeds in this manner, he or she must serve the  certificate of offence on the defendant within 30 days of the alleged offence. The officer must then file the certificate of offence in the court office as soon as possible after service of the office notice or summons. It is open to the defendant to plead in one of three ways: not guilty, guilty “with representations”, or guilty.  If they plead guilty then they would pay the set fine, which is sometimes written onto the ticket. If the person does nothing within 15 days of service of the offence notice, then they are deemed not to dispute the charge and a conviction is registered.

The Novice Driver Sanction Scheme

As outlined on the OntarioMinistry of Transportation website,

Effective August 1, 2010, novice or hybrid drivers (drivers that hold a novice license and full license, e.g., G) will be subject to Novice Driver Escalating Sanctions. These sanctions will apply if, within a five year period, you:

• are convicted of violating any of the graduated licensing conditions;

The Novice Driver Escalating Sanctions are as follows:

• 30-day licence suspension for the first occurrence;
• 90-day licence suspension for the second occurrence; and
• Novice licence cancellation for the third occurrence. Upon a third occurrence, your novice driver’s licence will be cancelled and any time discount earned, time credited or fees paid would be forfeited. You must re-apply to the graduated licensing program by passing a vision and knowledge test and paying all licensing fees. After you pass these tests, you will enter Level One and get a Class G1 licence. You must serve all the Level One and Level Two waiting periods and start as a new driver. You would need to take a beginner driver education course to qualify for a time discount.

To read more on the G2 license restrictions, visit the Ontario Ministry of Transportation.

If you are a youth in Ontario and have legal questions about this issue, please contact a lawyer at JFCY at 416-920-1633, or toll-free at 1-866-999-5329.  

Thanks to Inez Leutenegger, a PLE Team volunteer for writing this scenario for this post. Inez is currently a paralegal student. Legal information written by JFCY summer student Jeremy Ozier and JFCY volunteer Sarah Mehta Alexander. Legal information was reviewed by JFCY.

Fighting back: SELF DEFENCE AND THE LAW

Scenario

Jared, a grade ten student, is walking home from a friend’s house one night when he sees three grade twelve boys who go to his school. He remembers that these boys are tough and have been in several physical fights. Jared attempts to pass by the boys without any confrontation, but the boys stop him in his path and start asking him questions.

“Where are you going so fast?” says one.

“Can’t say hi?” says another of the boys.

Jared begins to feel intimidated. He attempts to walk around the boys but they push him back in front of them. Jared retaliates in reaction, punching one of the boys and breaks the boys’ nose. The response stuns the boys and Jared quickly runs away, escaping the boys. When he gets home he tells his parents what has happened, and they encourage him to call the police and let them know what has happened.

Legal questions:

When the three boys surrounded Jared and shoved him, was this considered assault?

If yes, does this qualify Jared’s reaction (a punch) as self-defense?

Legal answers:

Many youth feel that if someone else throws the first punch (for example) then anything that follows is legally acceptable since they are acting in ‘self defence’. This is not always the case. It is important to understand what self-defence really is.

1. Yes, this is an assault. An assault involves any application of force, or touching, to another person without their consent. This includes shoving them, or hitting them with something, or using your fists. It would also be an assault if the boys threatened Jared or attempted to hit him and missed, as long as Jared reasonably believed they could do so if they wanted. Swinging a punch at someone and not hitting is still an assault.
2. Yes, this does qualify Jared’s reaction as self-defence. Every person who is unlawfully assaulted without having provoked the assault is justified in repelling that force, using his or her own force, so long as that force is not intended to cause death or grievous bodily harm, and is no more than necessary to defend him or herself.
3. As mentioned above, self-defence must not be intended to cause death or serious bodily harm, and it must be no more than necessary to defend yourself. If someone punches you, you don’t have the right to punch them until they are seriously hurt or killed. Self-defence must be both reasonable and necessary in the circumstances.

Blog post by PLE Team Volunteer Marsha Rampersaud and JFCY summer law student Jeremy Ozier.