A pilot project that will see provincial police administer mandatory breathalyzers during all traffic stops on Toronto-area highways could be expanded to Southwestern Ontario, police say.
A pilot project that will see provincial police administer mandatory breathalyzers during all traffic stops on Toronto-area highways could be expanded to Southwestern Ontario, police say.
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In response to a surge in impaired driving deaths on OPP-patrolled roads – up 30 per cent during the past six years – officers are conducting mandatory alcohol screenings during all traffic stops in the Greater Toronto Area, the OPP announced this week.
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Ontario law requires drivers to provide a breath sample when requested by police, even during encounters where there’s no suspicion they’ve consumed alcohol.
“The mandatory alcohol screening initiative is a GTA-specific pilot project at present, but it has the potential to expand to other regions, including west region, if it’s found to be effective,” OPP spokesperson Derek Rogers said of the region encompassing Southwestern Ontario .
Last month, the OPP pledged to crack down on impaired driving in response to an increase in the potentially deadly crime. Impaired driving fatalities jumped 31 per cent between 2018 and 2023, when there were 385 fatalities on OPP-patrolled roads. Cases of police laying impaired driving charges also increased by 33 per cent during the six-year period, the OPP said.
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Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (RIDE) checkpoints will continue to be rolled out throughout the year and drivers should be prepared to provide a breath sample to officers at these stops.
London defense lawyer Nick Cake said the new OPP campaign will deter people from getting behind the wheel after consuming alcohol, even a few drinks.
“Your three-glasses-of-wine-after-work people are going to be dug up and that’s great,” he said.
Police in Ontario have had the authority to administer roadside alcohol screenings without observing signs of impairment since 2018, Cake said, adding the RCMP now do so during all traffic stops in Saskatchewan.
“The prerequisites are the officer has to see you operating a motor vehicle and has to have the approved screening device on them,” he said. “If those two things are met, they can ask anybody.”
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A breathalyzer measures how much alcohol is in the air a person breathes out and estimates a person’s blood-alcohol content. Anyone with a breathalyzer reading of more than 100 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood – over the legal limit of 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood – can be charged under the Criminal Code.
“So, the roadside device is calibrated to fail you at a level higher than the legal limit so that the officer can gain the reasonable grounds to believe the offense (of impaired driving) has been committed,” said Cake, a former assistant Crown attorney in Sarnia.
Anyone who blows more than 50 mg per 100 ml of blood is given an automatic three-day license suspension and a $150 fine.
Last month, the OPP laid impaired driving charges against both drivers in a fatal crash in Huron County – a rare case that the head of Mothers against Drunk Driving Canada called disturbing.
The Nov. 5, 2023, crash in Howick Township killed a 45-year-old Brockton resident and injured both drivers. A 32-year-old South Bruce man and a 45-year-old Hanover woman are charged with impaired driving and drug-related offenses.
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