Crackdown on Drunk Drivers!

Just last week I was telling Pete Vere that topics for my column seem to just make themselves known. Today’s is topic no exception.

I had a few ideas that I was mulling over, and I logged-on to check headlines before trying to pull together something coherent when I saw the headline

"Tougher penalties for drunk drivers."

After reading the Media Release accompanying the article I must say that I am pleased with the steps the government is taking on this issue, which include:

Creating escalating sanctions for repeat drinking drivers measuring 0.05 to 0.08 blood alcohol concentration ("the warn range")

• First instance: driver suspended for three days
  
• Second instance: driver suspended for seven days and must undergo remedial measures
  
• Third or subsequent instance: driver suspended for 30 days, must undergo remedial measures and have ignition interlock for six months

And those penalties are just for blowing a "warn." The current penalties for a conviction are even more severe.

Of course, I suspect that once someone is hit with a third-strike ignition interlock requirement for only blowing a "warn" some crackerjack defense lawyer will rise to the occasion and try to get the charge thrown out.

There have been many posters who, upon reading headlines each morning of yet more drunk drivers being charged, ask the question: "Aren’t people getting the message?" Quite simply, the answer is "No."

Some have asked the question whether it is only here in the Sault that the number of drinking and driving offences are so high. Obviously if the Government is introducing these tough new measures it must be a significant problem province-wide.

In fact, the article states that 16,000 people are charged each year with drinking and driving in Ontario. It goes on to state that almost twenty-five per cent of Ontario’s road fatalities each year are alcohol-related.

There was a time when drinking and driving was once a common occurrence. Today it is no longer acceptable, and was never really the right thing to do.

Ontario already had very severe penalties for drinking and driving offences. In fact, they were some of the harshest penalties in North America.

And yet, people continue to drink and drive.

The problem, as I see it, is two-fold.

Firstly are the aberrant offenders. These are people who do not feel they have consumed over the limit and believe they can still safely drive. In some cases it is a one-time occurrence, while others may be repeat offenders.

When sober they often insist that they would never drive drunk. Unfortunately, when they do drink the alcohol impairs their judgement, and they are unable to recognize their level of impairment. They have the opportunity when sober to choose to not drive and to take a cab or arrange some other means of transportation, but fail to do so.

Secondly are the hard-core drunk drivers who just don’t care. Period. They don’t care about the law; they don’t care about the danger in which they place themselves or others; they don’t care about the consequences. Many don’t care that their licenses have already been suspended, and drive without a license or insurance.

Whether aberrant or hard-core, both are a menace behind the wheel.

I applaud the government for taking this step. Hopefully these new measures, especially the ignition interlock requirement, will hit them hard and will reduce the number of drunk drivers on our roads.

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Included with this announcement is that of a separate measure which will allow Police vehicles to display red and blue flashing lights.

Ontario was one of the few jurisdictions worldwide to shun the use of blue lights for emergency vehicles. Most Police agencies across North America use either blue exclusively, or a combination of red and blue. Elsewhere in the world blue is used for all emergency vehicles.

This measure is long overdue. There has been a great deal of research to show that blue lights are more effective during daylight hours. Even at night, when the road ahead is awash with bright red tail and brake lights, red emergency lights do not stand out as well as they should.

The blue-red combination is quite effective, and should make police vehicles much more noticeable.

This will likely mean that snowplows will have to switch back to amber, so as to avoid any confusion.

I remember when blue lights were introduced in the early 1960s to designate snow removal equipment. There was a television ad campaign to promote this. Of course, this has caused some minor confusion over the years with tourists, especially those from US states which use blue exclusively for police vehicles.

Of course, it could cause confusion for drunk drivers when they see blue lights in their rear-view mirrors and think that a snow plow is following them down the road… in July! I don’t think I’ll have much sympathy to spare for them, however.