Should zero alcohol tolerance for young drivers be expanded?

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Right now, young drivers in BC are under zero-tolerance for booze until they lose their “N” (a period of 24 months) and that’s already on top of the one year “learners” stage.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving Alberta wants the zero-tolerance period stepped up to five years or until the age of 21 for drivers in its province.

The push comes after new impaired driving rules took effect in Alberta on July 1st. Drivers there caught with a blood-alcohol content above 0.08 will instantly have their licence suspended.

MADD Metro Vancouver feels BC may also want to think about beefing up its own zero-tolerance laws someday.

“If our numbers continue to increase, if we continue to see the number of youth and new drivers killed and injured, they need to go a step further,” explains past president Bob Rorison.

“Alberta’s just going a step beyond what we are and if our numbers still show that the youth are too highly over-rated then we’ll probably go the same in British Columbia,” he suggests.

The argument for zero-tolerance until the age of 21 is to allow drivers to learn proper behaviours and develop a level of maturity behind the wheel.

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