The B.C. superintendent of motor vehicles says he was unable to correct the wrongful punishment of a pensioner for drunk driving, even though he was a passenger in a car driven by his stone-cold sober grandson.
The man did not file an appeal under the provisions of the controversial legislation that came into effect in 2010.
Drunk-driving laws:
Vancouver lawyer Paul Doroshenko and other defence lawyers were flabbergasted by the high-handed behaviour.
Police can demand “a driver” provide a breath sample on an approved screening device under the federal Criminal Code — but that law does not allow them to make such a demand on a vehicle passenger.
Neither does the immediate roadside prohibition scheme that is part of the provincial Motor Vehicle Act.
“There are no legislative requirements for the (graduated licence supervisors) supervisors to be sober,” MacLeod confirmed. “However the responsibility of supervising a new driver is a serious one and one that government would strongly recommend should not be done while affected by alcohol or drugs.”
A leading critic of the changes that shifted the policing of drunk driving from the courts to this less legally rigorous administrative system, Doroshenko said the RCMP was way out of line.
“For the (breath) demand to be made, you must be in care and control of the vehicle — seated in the driver seat, behind the wheel or driving the vehicle,” he added.
“When they make the demand pursuant to the Criminal Code … it must be made to someone who is a driver or who has care and control. He clearly was not the driver. And the Motor Vehicle Act only permits an immediate roadside prohibition to go to the driver.”