B.C. introduces toughest drunk driving legislation in Canada
Posted April 27, 2010 5:19 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The B.C. government is getting tougher on drunk drivers by introducing new penalties. The introduction of Bill 14 makes B.C.’s impaired driving laws the toughest in Canada.
Drivers who blow over .08 or refuse to give a sample get an immediate 90-day driving ban, a $500 fine and possible criminal charges. Drivers who blow in the “warn” zone–between .05 and .08–will now get an immediate three day suspension with a $200 fine.
The amount of the fine, and the suspension length will increase with each warning in a five year period. Solicitor General Mike de Jong says the B.C. government wants to cut drunk driving deaths in the province by 35 per cent by 2013.
The bill has been created in memory of 4-year-old Alexa Middelaer, who died after being hit by an accused drunk driver while she was feeding horses along the side of 64th Street about two years ago. Her parents, along with representatives of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), were on hand in Victoria to see the bill introduced. MADD says drunk driving penalties are taking a “quantum leap in the right direction”.
