Accused drunk drivers get more ways to challenge penalties

 Bethany Lindsay, ctvbc.ca  Date: Thursday May. 3, 2012 4:32 PM PT
The B.C. government has rolled out its court-ordered adjustments to the province's tough drunk-driving law, promising that drivers who blow over the legal limit will have more chances to challenge their readings.

The proposed changes come in response to a November B.C. Supreme Court ruling that part of the law was unconstitutional because it was too harsh and lacked a "meaningful review process." Justice Jon Sigurdson said that the immediate 90-day driving prohibitions and costs associated with blowing a "fail" go too far without offering proper recourse for alleged impaired drivers. The province was given until the end of June to fix the law, and the government announced Thursday that it had found a solution. "We believe that we have met and exceeded the expectations of the court," Justice Minister Shirley Bond told reporters at the B.C. legislature. "We believe that these amendments will provide a more expansive and appropriate appeal process." The province says it is aiming to pass the amendments this spring, to be in force by June 15.

Under the changes, police officers will be legally obligated to let drivers know they have a right to a second test and to inform them that the lower of the two readings will prevail. Officers will also need to file sworn reports about their interactions with drivers. People accused of drunk driving will have more avenues to challenge their penalties with the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles, including whether they were offered a second test, whether that test was done on a second breathalyzer and if the lowest reading was used. Drivers will also be able to challenge the reliability of the breathalyzer that failed them and police will have to submit documentation proving the instruments have been properly calibrated. Internal police documents obtained by lawyer Paul Doroshenko last year showed that some units used by the Vancouver Police Department were giving inflated readings, while police in Port Moody were using the same chemical solution to perform too many calibration tests. The new administrative process for dealing with drunk drivers was introduced in September 2010. According to government figures, alcohol-related driving deaths dropped by 40 per cent in the first year. Since the November court ruling, police have been relying on the criminal process to deal with drivers caught with a blood-alcohol level over .08. The province says the reintroduction of immediate roadside prohibitions will save time and resources in court. But Doroshenko told CTV News that the changes don't go far enough and the government's solution doesn't include a remedy for those who were punished under the unconstitutional legislation. "I think this a lot of window dressing. It doesn't deal with the real issue of using these devices on the roadside. They're just not reliable enough to justify the punishment," he said. Lawyers for suspected drunk drivers were in court last week arguing that the government should provide compensation for thousands of dollars their clients paid in penalties.