r/news • u/maiscestmoi • Oct 11 '21

Title Not From Article Accountant cleared of drink driving after claiming she guzzled vodka AFTER crash

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/im-not-going-lie-necked-21820359
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u/meelytime Oct 11 '21

"In addition to the offence of impaired driving, there are separate offences of having specified prohibited levels of alcohol, cannabis or certain other drugs in the blood within two hours of driving. Penalties range from fines to life imprisonment, depending on the severity of the offence."
https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/sidl-rlcfa/

That two hour limit after you exit the car is worded in law as being something like "reasonable expectation of being assessed" or something like that. Simply put, to prevent people from doing the chug liquor to prove innocence, but wouldn't apply to someone who gets home/goes to a bar without incident. That trick wouldn't work in Canada.

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u/JohnHwagi Oct 11 '21

I don’t understand how that law would work? Does that only apply if you are pulled over or in a vehicle accident, you have to wait the 2 hours? Having a couple beers or a joint after getting home from a stressful day at work is pretty common.

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u/meelytime Oct 11 '21

IANL!

My understanding is that if you just drive home, you would have a reasonable expectation that you don't need to pass a sobriety test. However, if on said drive home, you did a hit and run, hit a lamppost, or are being chased by police, you can't reasonably expect to not have to pass a sobriety test.

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u/JohnHwagi Oct 11 '21

Yeah, that seems pretty logical, and would do a good job of really only catching people trying to lie about drunk driving.

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u/gbiypk Oct 11 '21

There was a cop in Edmonton that did the drinking after an accident stunt, and got away with it. I think that was some of the motivation for this law.