Alberta RCMP hope new rules that allow them to demand a breath sample from any driver they pull over will deter drunk drivers from getting on the road.
The mandatory alcohol screening that comes into effect on Dec. 18 means officers can approach every car they pull over with a portable Breathalyzer for screening.
RCMP traffic services Supt. Gary Graham and Sgt. Brent Robinson, an impaired driving specialist with the RCMP traffic unit, demonstrated the test Monday at K Division headquarters.
Graham said on Dec. 1, RCMP officers took part in National Impaired Driving Enforcement Day. Out of the 11,895 vehicles checked by the Alberta RCMP on that day, 23 charges were laid for alcohol-related impairment and two were laid for drug-related impairment.
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Kyla Lee, a criminal lawyer with Acumen Law in Vancouver, said she believes the test is unconstitutional because it violates the section of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms that defends Canadians against unreasonable search and seizure.
“If police write off other reasons for bad driving and focus solely on alcohol-impairment, it leads to wrongly charged and arrested people,” Lee said in a phone interview Monday.
Under the law, the results of the test can allow the police to demand a second, more sophisticated test with an approved screening device, which can involve obtaining a sample of a body fluid to further test for alcohol as well as drugs in the driver’s system.
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