A lady said on the radio that it’s not an accident when a drunken driver kills someone, because the driver has to be responsible for their actions. Makes sense? It does to me.
Then I read an article where a Yellowknife lawyer said defence lawyers are seeing more impaired driving charges in the NWT. So, I decided to write about drinking and driving.
One of the first things I found out is that, in 2019, the NWT police reported impaired driving more than 13 times the national average. MORE. THAN. 13. Times. The. National. Average.
Think about it. People who ordinarily obey the law can wake up in the morning facing fines and losing their licence, and possibly jail time. And, all they wanted to do when they went out the night before was to have a good time.
Instead of calling a cab, they drove and they woke up in jail. “Woke up in the cooler” we used to say when I was still drinking, because the cell is cement and you probably won’t have a blanket. And don’t even think about getting a mattress. Eschia, (take it easy eh!)
Deaths did not stop us
When I was a young man, most people drank heavily and thought nothing of drinking and driving. In fact, the police used to stop drunk drivers and tell them to drive straight home.
My cousin was working on the Mackenzie Highway and his co-workers and him drove to the bar in Fort Simpson. After “having fun” till the bar closed, they started driving back to their camp and their vehicle flipped.
My cousin died and a good friend was also seriously injured. Did that stop us from drinking? No!
A year or so later, some close friends from our group decided to drive to Hay River. Again, everybody was drinking, and they crashed. One of our female childhood friends died and others were injured, including my cousin’s girlfriend.
Did that stop us from drinking? NO!
Recent NWT fatalities
Are you thinking that was in the olden days? Well, think again. In two weeks this past May, the RCMP reported four deaths involving vehicles. Four deaths! In two weeks! We read about it in the papers and heard it on the radio.
On May 11th, an 18-year-old girl died at the scene of a single-vehicle accident in Behchoko. Luckily, she was alone and nobody else was hurt. Two days later, a 19-year-old girl died after being injured in an ATV rollover in Deline.
On May 15th, a 31-year old man died in a golf cart collision in Enterprise. RCMP urged people to wear seatbelts and not to get into a vehicle if the driver has been drinking.
On May 28th, a 22-year-old woman died in the Wekweeti community health centre after jumping out of a moving vehicle. Whoa! Sober people do not usually do things like that.
Residents say the deaths involved alcohol. Think about it; those people probably would still be alive if people were not drinking and driving.
Imagine the heartache for the parents, siblings, relatives, and friends of these people for their senseless deaths.
Impaired driving laws
One of the reasons for more Impaired Driving charges could be that Canada passed a law in 2018 that police can make you take a breath test once they pull you over for any reason. They don’t need to even suspect you’re impaired.
If the breathalyzer says you’ve been drinking, and it’s your first offence, the minimum penalty for blowing over .08 is a $1,000 fine and losing your licence for a year. That’s about four or five drinks. It’s a minimum fine of $2,000 for blowing .160 or higher, which is 8 or 9 drinks.
The second time you’re convicted, you’ll get a minimum of 30 days in jail; a third conviction is a minimum of 120 days in jail. Keep in mind the maximum for any of these charges is ten years in jail. Whoa, that’s a lot of jail time.
Driving while impaired from marijuana or other drugs has similar penalties.
So, you want to be smart and not give a breath sample? That’s worth a $2,000 fine. That’s what I did when I was young. I thought “they can’t convict me if I don’t give a sample.” They just added the charge of refusing to blow to my impaired driving charge.
And if you get in an accident and someone gets hurt, it’s a maximum of two years in jail for a summary conviction. Never mind, you can get 14 years if they charge you under an indictment, which is for more serious incidents.
You can get life in prison, God forbid, if someone dies!!! That’s life in prison. And all you wanted to do was go out and have fun. It’s just not worth it to drink and drive.
To boot, drivers under the age of 22 and people driving commercial vehicles, like a school bus or a tractor, will be charged for having any amount of drugs or alcohol in their system.
So don’t be one of those people who goes out to have fun and wakes up in jail with an impaired driving charge looming over your head. Be smart. Walk, or spend twenty bucks on a cab. Or, call mom or a friend to drive you home. Lives depend on your choices.