Friday, December 07, 2007
License suspended if test within 3 hours of Canadian Drunk Driving
San Diego Drunk Driving Criminal Defense Lawyer news
A bill to "crack down on impaired drivers":
Alberta Infrastructure and Transportation's media release for an amendment to the Traffic Safety Act says Bill 49 cracks down on Drunk Driving / DWI / DUI / impaired driving by considering breathalyzer readings taken up to three hours after driving to be the same as they would at the time of driving.
The release fails to mention the people "considering" breathalyzer results aren't cops or judges, but rather Alberta's Transportation Safety Board.
The TSB is not involved in the prosecution of drunk drivers; their role is to enforce or overturn the automatic 90-day driving suspensions handed out when people are charged with impaired driving.
Johnson, a former TSB member, said his bill aims to lessen the burden on TSB officials dealing with an increasing number of appeals of driving suspensions - many of which he said are based on an irksome technicality.
"This bill has nothing to do with police and has no bearing in criminal cases against people charged with impaired driving.
"It was written because the (TSB) was getting too many appeals from people whose breathalyzers were taken after the previous two-hour limit. Extending the time limit to three hours should stop all those appeals."
Edmonton defence lawyer Paul Moreau specializes in impaired driving cases and said Bill 49 looks like political back-scratching.
"This only benefits the Transportation Safety Board," he said. "It might make it a little harder to get your suspension overturned on a time-limit technicality, but the truth is, the TSB rarely grants those appeals anyway.
"The government is trying to make it sound like they're cracking down on drunk driving, but really this is just a little bit of nothing."
Edmonton's top traffic cop Staff Sgt. Bill Horne said his first reaction upon hearing of the new bill was confusion.
"I don't think this has anything to do with the prosecution of these individuals, just the TSB's involvement when licences are suspended for 90 days. I wouldn't exactly call that a crackdown."
A bill to "crack down on impaired drivers":
Alberta Infrastructure and Transportation's media release for an amendment to the Traffic Safety Act says Bill 49 cracks down on Drunk Driving / DWI / DUI / impaired driving by considering breathalyzer readings taken up to three hours after driving to be the same as they would at the time of driving.
The release fails to mention the people "considering" breathalyzer results aren't cops or judges, but rather Alberta's Transportation Safety Board.
The TSB is not involved in the prosecution of drunk drivers; their role is to enforce or overturn the automatic 90-day driving suspensions handed out when people are charged with impaired driving.
Johnson, a former TSB member, said his bill aims to lessen the burden on TSB officials dealing with an increasing number of appeals of driving suspensions - many of which he said are based on an irksome technicality.
"This bill has nothing to do with police and has no bearing in criminal cases against people charged with impaired driving.
"It was written because the (TSB) was getting too many appeals from people whose breathalyzers were taken after the previous two-hour limit. Extending the time limit to three hours should stop all those appeals."
Edmonton defence lawyer Paul Moreau specializes in impaired driving cases and said Bill 49 looks like political back-scratching.
"This only benefits the Transportation Safety Board," he said. "It might make it a little harder to get your suspension overturned on a time-limit technicality, but the truth is, the TSB rarely grants those appeals anyway.
"The government is trying to make it sound like they're cracking down on drunk driving, but really this is just a little bit of nothing."
Edmonton's top traffic cop Staff Sgt. Bill Horne said his first reaction upon hearing of the new bill was confusion.
"I don't think this has anything to do with the prosecution of these individuals, just the TSB's involvement when licences are suspended for 90 days. I wouldn't exactly call that a crackdown."
# posted by SanDiegoDUI @ 4:05 PM 
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