By virtue of the fact that we handle so many driving cases, we can get a sense right away if there has been a change in driving behaviour. When the Immediate Roadside Prohibition scheme came out we noticed an immediate increase in the number of hit and run cases from the increase in people contacting our office.
It should not come as a surprise to anyone. This has been researched and the connection has been acknowledged in the academic literature. Simply put, the more draconian and unfair the DUI laws, the fewer the number of people who will remain at the scene of an accident.
A number of BC police officers from different forces told us that they were seeing a significant increase in hit and run cases as soon at the IRP scheme came into effect in September 2010. Two years later the story has come to light, but the media have yet to make the connection.
It is unfortunate. When drivers had confidence in the technology used by the police to determine blood-alcohol content, if they had only one or two drinks, they were more than willing to stop at an accident, assist anyone who was injured and deal with the repercussions. Now, bearing in mind the consequences are an IRP, which starts immediately, is based on often-inaccurate test results and which has a ridiculously stupid dispute method, people would rather avoid the consequence (widely known to be unfair) and flee the scene.
The Government claims (a lie we will explain in some later post) that the IRP scheme has caused a significant reduction in accident deaths by drunk drivers. Of course, they don’t draw attention to the increase in deaths and injuries by hit and run drivers. And if you commit hit and run, almost never can they show you were drunk when the accident happened.
If you think you may have left the scene of an accident, i.e. did a hit and run, give us a call. We know how to deal with these cases because we do them all of the time. There is a very good chance, excellent even, that we will get you through without a criminal record if you call us right away.