By Gary Skrzek
President - iMarket Canada
info@imarket.ca

Why Don't People Know The Drinking & Driving Laws

Unfortunately, there are big and wealthy anti-drinking and driving organizations in Ontario that scare monger for donations and falsely take credit for new technologies. Non of them have taken any action or spend any money to educate the public about Ontario's drinking and driving laws. They use a sleazy marketing technique called Assumed Institutional Advertising. They do not campaign against drinking and driving; they campaign to spread the fear of drinking and driving and that campaign is directed at people who don't drink or people who have young children. This is the heart of the deception and how they maximize donations.

The public does not pay close attention to their advertisements, thus the public "assumes" they are fighting to keep the roads safe. Money is their bread-and-butter and stopping drinking and driving never crosses their mind while they count the 10's of millions of dollars they get in donations in Ontario every year. As a result, 99% of people in Ontario don't know the laws, let alone visitors to Ontario. These organizations are not charities, they are Not-For-Profit Corporations.

These so called Anti-Drinking and Driving organizations also have the highest paid employees in Canada with the biggest of these organizations paying 3/5ths of their employees over $110,000 per year plus bonuses, benefits, expense accounts and golden parachute retirement packages. When you donate money to these people, you are just buying them bigger houses and new swimming pools. The average income for a full-time working adult over 18 years old in Ontario is $24,900. This is the second highest average in Canada next to Alberta. That's one hell of a charity don't you think!!!

For God sakes, stop giving these corporations money. Get people from your community together, work with local police and organize your own awareness campaign and reach out to the public in your area. Between 2003 and 2006, over 90,000 people per year have been charged with drinking and driving related offenses in Ontario. The only improvement in that time came from banning smoking in bars and pubs, which meant heavy drinkers that smoke drank at home more often.. It will not go away unless the community groups step-up their own efforts.

Ontario's Drinking & Driving Laws

Ontario has among the most strict drinking and driving laws in the world. The legal limit in Ontario is .08 ml of alcohol per 100 ml of blood. That equates to a 200-pound man having three 5% beers. Drinking one beer per hour after that will maintain the above .08 level. It's not very much and 95% of people who are charged think they are 100% sober.

Driving in a boat while over .08 is the same charge as being in a car. If you are over .08, you can be charged for just sitting in the front seat of your car or having your keys with you while in the back seat.

If you are an American and have been charged with a blood alcohol level over.08 in your state, Ontario considers you a criminal even if it's not a criminal offense in your state. You will be refused entry into Ontario or told pay a $250, which is just a government money grab and has nothing to do with safety. It will be up to the discretion of the customs officer which one he or she chooses. You can also hire a lawyer to get a pardon in your own state or you can contact the American Embassy in Ottawa and ask them to get special permission for you to enter.

There are four levels of offenses:

Over .08: Over .08 is a criminal offense in Ontario. First offense is a minimum $600 fine, automatic 3-month driver's license suspension from the Ministry of Transportation and an additional 12-month suspension by the courts. You also get a 10-year criminal record and a lifetime offender registration. People charged with drinking and driving do not qualify for legal aid. If you blow over .08 on the first breath sample and then blow under .08 on your second breath sample, the officer has the choice whether to charge you with impaired or give you a 12 hour suspension. Charged with a 12-hour suspension means your car gets towed and is impounded for 24 hours. The storage fees and towing fees will be astronomical because the government has contracted towing companies and their impoundment lots could be 100 miles away from where you are charged. Second offense is a two-year driver's license suspension and a third conviction is a lifetime suspension and two years in prison. The penalty is the same for Impaired driving but the charge is based on other criteria.

Impaired: Impaired means you are operating a motor vehicle and show signs of mental or physical impairment. You do not have to be over .08 to be charged with impaired. It's up to the discretion of the officer. Basically this law exist to charge people who do not cooperate with the police officer or drug use, which there is no convenient roadside test for.

Impaired causing bodily harm: If you are over .08 or show signs of mental or physical impairment and get into an accident, you can lose your license for up to 5 years and be charged with up to $10,000. You may also face up to 2 years in jail for your first offense.

Impaired causing death: If you get into an accident while drinking and someone is killed, you will be charged with vehicular manslaughter. That's up to 25 years in prison.

The Ontario Provincial Police use the Intoxilyzer 5000, which is an infrared energy absorption monitor. Alcohol molecules have a bipolar vibration of 3.4 microns. The subject gives a breath sample. The Intoxilyzer 5000 bombards the air sample with infrared radiation at a frequency of 3.4 microns. Alcohol molecules absorb this energy and the amplitude of their vibration increases. Amplitude is how the molecules are identified. The amount of energy absorption at the 3.4 micron frequency is how the Intoxilyzer 5000 determines the concentration of alcohol molecules. It's a very sophisticated piece of technology and very accurate if the proper factory recommended maintenance is performed.

After the first breathe sample is taken, the absorption chamber is suppose to be heated to 36 C for 17 minutes to evaporate any alcohol from the first sample. Then a second breath sample is taken. You need to fail both breathe-tests to be charged with over .08.

The Ontario courts consider the Intoxilyzer 5000 results the "Word of God". If you feel the results are wrong due to heath reasons, you will have to hire a criminal lawyer, a pharmacologist and a toxicologist. You will have to rent a medical lab for their tests. You will have to pay these research specialists for their expert testimony. You will also have to hire a lawyer in Quebec to get copies of the Intoxilyzer 5000 maintenance logs from a company called The Techno Police. In total, it could cost as much as $50,000 or more. In Ontario, you are guilty as soon as you fail a breath test. You need overwhelming evidence to overturn a drinking and driving charge.

Heavy smokers and people with lung disease will have diminished lung capacity. The alcohol in the blood will be metabolized and expelled through lung capillaries into a lung with smaller volume capacity thus the test results will show the alcohol to be more concentrated then it actually is. The Intoxilyzer 5000 has factory presets and assumes everyone has a Blood To Breathe Partition Ratio between 1900:1 and 2200:1, which is the average for most people but not true for heavy smokers or people with lung disease. If you want to know what your lung capacity is, contact your doctor and ask for a Pulmonary Function Test.

The Biggest Misconception

The rate in which your liver metabolizes alcohol effects how drunk you feel, not necessarily how much alcohol is in your blood. This may explain why young people with healthy livers get drunk on less alcohol. . Drinking coffee, having something to eat, drinking lots of water only slows down the metabolism process thus you feel better but the same amount of alcohol is in your blood and the alcohol will stay in your system longer. You are only tricking yourself and setting yourself up to be charged. This may explain why 95% of people feel sober when they are charged. Only time gets alcohol out of your system.

Plan your night if you are going to drink: