Drivers who blow a "warn" or a "fail" on a roadside screening device will soon get an option to blow a second time and have more grounds for appeal under new regulations proposed by the province.
On Thursday, the government announced it will introduce changes to B.C.'s drunk driving regulations giving motorists who are handed an immediate roadside suspension more rights to challenge the process.
The regulations, which came into force in September 2010, gave officers authority to issue immediate 90-day driving suspensions on drivers who registered a blood-alcohol content greater than .08 on a breathalyzer.
In November, however, a B.C. Supreme Court judge struck down a portion of those regulations, saying it violated citizen's rights to impose such a harsh penalty without allowing a reasonable right to appeal.
Although drivers could ask the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles to review their suspensions, the grounds for doing so were very narrow and
essentially unwinnable.
In a nod to the court decision, the changes being introduced give drivers back some of those rights.
Now if a driver blows a "warn" (indicating a blood alcohol level of over .05) or a fail (indicating a blood alcohol level over .08), police must advise that person they can take the test again. The lower of the two readings will be considered valid.
But the biggest changes involve what happens after a suspension has been issued. Under the new rules, the drivers can challenge the reliability of the test results. They can also challenge whether the police told them of their right to a second test, and whether the suspension was issued on the lowest reading. Officers will also have to submit sworn reports to the superintendent.
Jay Straith, a lawyer who has represented several North Shore residents who are appealing their suspensions in court, called the proposed changes a step in the right direction, away from a "guilty until proven innocent" approach.
Straith said the test of the new regulations will be how they work in practice. Straith predicted the new grounds for appeal could result in some lengthy legal hearings before the superintendent.
West Vancouver Police Chief Peter Lepine said he's glad to see the government make changes putting roadside suspensions for the most serious cases back into officers' tool kits.
"My position has always been the (immediate roadside suspension program) was needed," said Lepine. But he said the "devil's in the details" in terms of how much time the new system will take.
The new rules will mean officers will have to carry two screening devices in their cars -- in case a driver requests a second reading on a different device. And so far, it's not clear what the appeal process will look like, Lepine added.
Following the court decision in November, dozens of North Shore residents -- from luxury real estate agents to commercial truck drivers --filed appeals of their driving suspensions.
Richard De Jong, spokesman for the North Vancouver RCMP, said the changes address the court's concerns, while still allowing officers to issue immediate roadside suspensions.
While they will add some work for police officers, De Jong said the changes still won't be as onerous as preparing paperwork for a criminal charge, which usually took a minimum of three hours to process -- and frequently much longer. In contrast, officers spent an average of 45 minutes dealing with drivers on the immediate roadside regulations.
Lepine said despite that, officers in West Vancouver have made it a priority over the past several months to enforce drunk driving laws.
Sixteen local officers from North Vancouver and West Vancouver were recently recognized as members of Alexa's Team, an annual award program that honours police officers who take at least 12 drunk drivers off the road in a year.
Lepine said it's good the new regulations will be in place for the summer. "Summertime is a busy time when it comes to drinking drivers," he said.
