Stricter rules for young drivers take effect Sunday
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Posted By MARIA CALABRESE QMI Agency
Posted 1 month ago
New drunk driving laws will take effect next week to ban younger drivers from having any alcohol in their system and make it easier for first-time offenders to get back behind the wheel.
Starting Sunday, drivers aged 21 and younger will not be allowed to have any alcohol in their system whether they're fully licenced or have a graduated G1 or G2 licence.
"It's all about collision risk," said Jeff Griffith, regional planner for the Ministry of Transportation's road safety marketing office in North Bay.
The ministry estimates about 200 people are killed annually on Ontario roads due to impaired driving, and drivers aged 19 to 21 are at the highest risk for drinking and driving collisions, Griffith said.
Fully licenced young drivers who have been drinking and are caught driving will receive an immediate 24-hour roadside licence suspension and can be fined $60 to $500 and lose their licence for an additional 30 days. Drivers with a graduated licence will be suspended and have to start their licensing over again.
Other rules taking effect Sunday will see stiffer penalties for drivers who ignore restrictions on their graduated licence, such as driving with too many passengers or ignoring highway restrictions or times of day when they're not allowed to drive.
If they're convicted of a Highway Traffic Act offence with four or more demerit points, these drivers will face an immediate 30-day licence suspension, jumping to 90 days for a second offence. They'll lose their licence for a third offence and have to start over as a G1 driver.
Starting Tuesday, first offenders charged with impaired driving, driving with a blood-alcohol concentration over the legal limit or refusing to provide police with a breath sample can reduce the amount of time their driver's licence is suspended if they install an ignition interlock.
The interlock is similar to a roadside device used by police to measure breath samples. It's connected to the ignition system and prevents the vehicle from from starting if the driver's blood-alcohol concentration is too high.
The province sees about 17,000 drinking and driving convictions annually, and 80% of those are first offenders. About 75% of convicted impaired drivers continue to drive while their licence is suspended, Griffith said.
"We want to get more drivers back behind the wheel legally," he said.
"Repeat offenders haven't learned from their mistakes. They persistently demonstrate dangerous or risky driving behaviour. As a result of that, we've deemed them to be ineligible to participate in the program."
Drivers impaired by drugs are not eligible, and neither are those who cause a crash that results in death or injury.
Instead of being suspended for a year, drivers can reduce that to as little as three months if they install an ignition interlock for nine months. They also have to plead guilty to the crime and be sentenced within 90 days of the offence, and complete the assessment part of the province's Back on Track education and treatment program.
A suspension could jump back to 12 months if there are any violations, Griffith said.
A licence can also be suspended for anyone caught operating a boat, snowmobile or all-terrain vehicle while impaired.
mcalabrese@nugget.ca
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