Teenage drinking and driving

Jessica  is 17 years old. She doesn't own a car, but she's been saving up money from her part time job to eventually purchase her own car in the near future. In the meantime, Jessica drives around her mother's car whenever she needs to.  Jessica is the only one among her friends who has a driver's licence, so her friends often depend on her to give them a ride.

One night there was a dance taking place at her school, and all the students were planning to attend.   Jessica was very excited for this dance because her exams were finally all over.  She was looking forward to partying and celebrating with her classmates. Many of Jessica’s friends were planning on getting wasted at the dance and she ensured them that she'd remain a designated driver for them. Although Jessica and her friends were below Ontario’s legal drinking age, they still planned to drink.

Jessica ended up drinking along with her friends during the party. She knew how dangerous it is to drink irresponsibly, but she continued to drink through the party along with her friends, even though she knew that she was supposed to drive everyone home safely.

Although Jessica didn't drink as much as her friends she still had a high amount of alcohol in her system , enough to possibly impair her driving ability.  Jessica has heard of the effects of drinking and driving countless times and she knows that drinking and driving can lead to accidents that claim lives.  She knows that driving home would put many innocent lives, including those of her friends, at risk.

Why does drinking and driving lead to accidents?

When a person drinks alcohol, it affects their ability to see and think about things the way that they normally do.  Ability to judge distances, to respond quickly to changes on the road, and to see clearly can all be affected.  All this means that accidents are more likely to happen when someone drinks and drives.

The amount of alcohol in a person’s body is measured by how much alcohol is in their blood.  This is called blood alcohol concentration, or BAC.  Your BAC is affected by factors like how much you drink, how fast you drink, your gender, your body weight, and how much food is in your stomach.  Because these factors change based on the individual person, it is very hard to know how much drinking will lead to impairment of your driving abilities.  It’s also very hard to assess your own BAC or impairment.  Overall, a higher BAC means that the alcohol you’ve drunk will have a greater impact on your driving performance.

What are the consequences of drinking and driving?

Drinking and driving leads to accidents, including death and injury.  It accounts for almost 25% of car accident deaths in Ontario.  However, it can also lead to charges being laid against the driver, fines and licence suspensions, and the impoundment of a vehicle.

In Ontario, if you are 21 and under, there is a zero blood alcohol concentration (BAC) rule while driving.  This means that regardless of which kind of licence you have (G, G1, G2), if you are caught with any alcohol in your blood, you will receive an immediate 24-hour roadside driver licence suspension.  You will likely then be charged with impaired driving.  If you are convicted of the charge, you can be fined between $60 and $500, and your licence can be suspended for 30 days.  If you are a young driver with a G1 or G2 licence, you can face even stricter consequences, including being returned to the start of the Graduated Licencing System.  For example, this means that if Jessica has her G2 and is caught drinking, she may lose her G2 licence (which allows her to drive her friends unaccompanied by an adult) and be returned to the start of the licensing process.

Higher BACs (between 0.05-0.08, and above 0.08) lead to even more severe consequences.

What are Jessica’s other options?

Jessica chose to drink even though she had agreed to be the designated driver.  Now  she has another decision to make: drive home or find alternative options.  If Jessica chooses to drive home, she risks the safety of herself, her friends, and others on the road.  She also risks being caught driving while impaired, either because of an accident or because she is stopped by a police officer, which could have a serious impact on her ability to drive.  If she drives home drunk, she will also have to consider what will happen if her mother finds out about what she has done.

Instead of driving home, Jessica can find out whether one of her friends has a parent or sober friend who would be willing to pick them up.  Jessica can pick up the car from school in the morning.  If one of her friends lives nearby, everyone might be able to stay there for the night.  Or, Jessica and her friends can share a cab – 1-888-TAXIGUY is a toll-free number which is available in 250 towns and cities across Ontario.  It connects callers directly to a partner taxicab in their city.  All of these are good options for Jessica and her friends.

JFCY has posted about drinking and driving in the past - check out these past posts for more information: July 2012 ; September 2011

The scenario for this post was written by Deqa Abdi, a volunteer member of the JFCY PLE Team. The legal info was written by JFCY volunteer Leora Jackson, a UofT law student.  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.