I’m sure that many British Columbians have now heard about the traffic accident that took place in Kelowna, BC, resulting in injury to four individuals.
The driver of the vehicle has been arrested and charged with impaired driving causing bodily harm, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing harm, driving while over .08, driving while suspended and breach of undertaking. It is said that he was already prohibited from driving and from consuming alcohol by a court order at the time the accident took place. He is now facing some very serious allegations.
This is one of the increasingly rare circumstances here in BC where an individual has actually been charged criminally following an impaired driving investigation. As you may know, BC currently has a law that imposes extremely harsh penalties against drivers who police allege are impaired. These penalties are delivered by way of the Motor Vehicle Act, rather than the Criminal Code.
But in circumstances where there is an accident or a death, police still proceed by way of criminal charges. To me, this seems problematic. Police shouldn’t have the power to pick and choose when they enforce the nation’s laws. It strikes me as similar to giving police officers charge approval powers, something that is left to Crown counsel. Under the new regime, police become judge, jury, and executioner, while individuals who are being investigated are left wondering whether they will be charged criminally or whether they will receive extraordinary penalties under the MVA.
I also have to wonder if this law is really addressing the issue of the problem drivers that police say it will take off the road. If criminal sanctions and convictions generally only stem from incidents where people have already become injured, isn’t the new law doing little to take the individuals who do cause harm by breaking the law off the road?
It’s hard to say. This is a difficult issue and one that is, especially in circumstances of the aforementioned case, fraught with emotion. What’s your opinion?