new breathalizer rules

[cldale]

Re: new breathalizer rules

I agree with GB as well, I think its actually stupid to have any material amount of alchohol made legal. If you know you're going to drive, then you shouldn't drink. Period. If thats too hard a rule for you to follow, then don't drive.

Also the notion that kids are substituting pot for beer because of a "fear of the cops" factor is pretty crazy. Kids are increasingly smoking pot because there is little ill effect to doing so. And the same field sobriety tests can be used to judge whether someone is impaired by pot as by alchohol.

I think this is a good law, society should be tougher on people who are foolish enough to even RISK drinking and driving. I have little sympathy for stupid, selfish people.

[golfpal]

Re: new breathalizer rules

Good post Cldale I agree too. And for kids and pot their just too stupid and arrogant to think there is anything wrong with it. What I could kill someone not me. .......I need to smoke up and/or drink. But would agree it's got nothing to do with beer or BAC levels and getting caught.

[kookie]

Re: new breathalizer rules

Gee I don't think its that bad an idea. With a mans body weight it would take about 3 drinks over an hour to blow 0.5 and thats enough with your dinner or after golf at a bar. I

I don't think body weight determines the amount of alcohol in the blood. From my understanding it's an enzyme in your liver that breaks down the alcohol. Some people have more (the liver produces more) and some people have less.

If I had 3 drinks over an hour I think I would pass out (or throw up) especially if I ate nothing. I know some women that can drink way more than me and they appear fine.

btw I'm male and weigh 160lbs

[davepratt]

Re: new breathalizer rules

Dave, could you or perhaps someone else on this forum post a link to either the provincial website or news article that you posted this information from.
Would like to see how it "reads"........

I only heard the story on the radio newscast as well as both main talk radio stations in Toronto 640 am and cfrb 1010. It was extensively talked about and most said this would not stand up against an appeal because of our charter of rights. People didn't bother a challenge when it was a 12hr suspension but they will now. Of course anyone in their right mind despises drinking and driving, but taking away people's rights with no opportunity to argue in front of a judge could be the tip of the iceberg and that's scary. Basicially a cop who is having a bad day can just tell you to blow in a machine, tell you you're over .05 and take away your car with no proof needed. That's too much power in the hands of law enforcement.

[golfpal]

Re: new breathalizer rules

http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=633959

It wasn't implemented to take your car away it is a fine and warning which is fair. I believe this is the Bill C -376 they are talking about. Read it before you speak and you have no rights if you are drinking and driving you just threw them out the window. Maybe if you had someone you know killed by any alcohol level you wouldn't be so quick to worry about your rights and not the dead persons rights.

Yes it does depend on body weight and I am sure some genes are involved too. But the BAC scale goes by weight.

http://www.icap.org/PolicyIssues/Dri...9/Default.aspx

This is interesting too other countries and BAC limits.

Under normal circumstances woman cannot drink as per their body weight as much as men and they will blow over with less drinks.

[akrus]

Re: new breathalizer rules

I don't think body weight determines the amount of alcohol in the blood. From my understanding it's an enzyme in your liver that breaks down the alcohol. Some people have more (the liver produces more) and some people have less.

If I had 3 drinks over an hour I think I would pass out (or throw up) especially if I ate nothing. I know some women that can drink way more than me and they appear fine.

btw I'm male and weigh 160lbs

Body weight and metabolism play large roles in the way one's system rids itself of the alcohol within.

How many of you know that the most common time for over .080 charges to be laid? It's the morning, while people are on their way to work, or after having left their car at their friend's or in the parking lot and doing the right thing and sleeping it off or taking a cab home.

Also, I've met people that have been charged and successfully prosecuted after the following (the charge: impaired operation of a motor vehicle - don't confuse this with B/A above .080 - fyi: if you get a B/A above .080, you will get the impaired operation of a motor vehicle charge as well - yes, 2 charges, both criminal and carrying the same max penalties):

1 glass of wine with dinner;
after using mouthwash (the brands with alcohol, obviously);
after taking medication (prescribed or over the counter);

As for those that think they can get away with the pot, that's what the "impaired operation of a motor vehicle" charge is all about.

Wait until you hear of those that get hit with "care and control" (see near bottom of link) charges.

Lots of links out there about this stuff:

http://www.lawyers.ca/impaired/pages/index.htm

[davepratt]

Re: new breathalizer rules

http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=633959

It wasn't implemented to take your car away it is a fine and warning which is fair. I believe this is the Bill C -376 they are talking about. Read it before you speak and you have no rights if you are drinking and driving you just threw them out the window. Maybe if you had someone you know killed by any alcohol level you wouldn't be so quick to worry about your rights and not the dead persons rights.

Please don't put words in my mouth. If I had my way, a convicted DUI would do mandatory jail time and never drive again. The key word is convicted and our charter allows that. Muderers, child molesters, the worst scum in our society has rights. No one has the right to pick and choose when to apply them. Cops and machines make mistakes all the time and that's why we have courts and judges. I do by the way know families who have been dessimated by drunk drivers and it makes me sick. As the former head of the Toronto Police ( Craig Brumell ) said today, this is the wrong approach. We must get judges to levy severe sentences to those who insist on drinking and driving and causing carnage on the roads. The law says you are impaired at .08 and not .05. If they were serious about fixing the problem, they would reduce that number to zero.

[kookie]

Re: new breathalizer rules

Yes it does depend on body weight and I am sure some genes are involved too. But the BAC scale goes by weight.

http://www.icap.org/PolicyIssues/Dri...9/Default.aspx

This is interesting too other countries and BAC limits.

Under normal circumstances woman cannot drink as per their body weight as much as men and they will blow over with less drinks.

From my understanding (from the above link) it's "weight by volume" i.e. the amount of alcohol (measured in mg) versus the amount of blood (measured in ml).
Not by body weight.

A scenario that popped into my mind regarding weight...

Someone who weighs say 200lbs. can think "Oh, I'm considered a big guy and I weigh 200lbs. so I can drink more" (or someone who is muscular can weigh more too).

Anyways, maybe the government (or whomever) should revisit the BAC limit. Might as well make it 0% since other countries do it, that way there is no gray areas and it's black and white. And of course there are people that are just plain stupid...having many drinks and drive regardless of the limit.

Found a link regarding the enzyme that breaks down alcohol: http://www.healthchecksystems.com/alcohol.htm

[WILL]

Re: new breathalizer rules

Changing the laws doesn't change drunks.

My best friend was killed by a drunk driver back in '95. He was riding his Harley doing 40 in a posted 50 when the guy made a left turn right into him from the opposite direction.

The driver had been charged with DUI 5 times but his POS lawyer kept remanding his court appearence until he killed somebody.


NOW YOU TELL ME WHICH LAW CHANGES WOULD HAVE SAVED HIS LIFE.

[golfnguru]

Re: new breathalizer rules

How many of you know that the most common time for over .080 charges to be laid? It's the morning, while people are on their way to work, or after having left their car at their friend's or in the parking lot and doing the right thing and sleeping it off or taking a cab home.

Not that I don't believe you, but this didn't seem right to me.

I looked for some info and found this document:

https://www.gobroomecounty.com/bcstopdwi/pdfs/DWIArrestsByTimeOfDay.pdf

Is there other stats available, because I find it hard to believe that there would be more charges in the "morning after" rather than the "night before:

[goshawk]

Re: new breathalizer rules

Is there other stats available, because I find it hard to believe that there would be more charges in the "morning after" rather than the "night before:

Actually, it makes a lot of sense to me. Say someone goes out to a party on Sat night, gets totally legless and is driven home by a friend. He gets up early and decides to go to Timmy's for a wake up cup, gets into an accident and the officer can still smell alcohol. Gets him to blow and he's over. The alcohol is still in his system. It doesn't just go away because he slept for 4 hours.
There's a guy here in town who I used to call a friend. I've watched him routinely go through $80-100 daily at one of our local watering holes, then get driven home. There's no way anyone is going to convince me that he's not still hammered when he gets up to go to work at 5am!

[golfnguru]

Re: new breathalizer rules

Actually, it makes a lot of sense to me. Say someone goes out to a party on Sat night, gets totally legless and is driven home by a friend. He gets up early and decides to go to Timmy's for a wake up cup, gets into an accident and the officer can still smell alcohol. Gets him to blow and he's over. The alcohol is still in his system. It doesn't just go away because he slept for 4 hours.
There's a guy here in town who I used to call a friend. I've watched him routinely go through $80-100 daily at one of our local watering holes, then get driven home. There's no way anyone is going to convince me that he's not still hammered when he gets up to go to work at 5am!

I'm not saying it doesn't happen but I can't believe it is the majority of cases.

[cvcapital]

Re: new breathalizer rules

In September if you blow in the warning zone (not impaired), you lose your license for 3 days, a second offense is 7 days and a third offense is mandatory classes and I believe a longer suspension. This basically says don't have a couple of drafts in the clubhouse after your round or a glass of wine or 2 with your dinner. I think this law punishes the wrong people and doesn't address the chronic drunk who should be severely punished and fined. Also, what happened to the charter of rights that gives you the right to a hearing before you're convicted? Your thoughts please.

Another reason why I left Canada for a better life...

[Golden Bear]

Re: new breathalizer rules

Actually, it makes a lot of sense to me. Say someone goes out to a party on Sat night, gets totally legless and is driven home by a friend. He gets up early and decides to go to Timmy's for a wake up cup, gets into an accident and the officer can still smell alcohol. Gets him to blow and he's over. The alcohol is still in his system. It doesn't just go away because he slept for 4 hours.
There's a guy here in town who I used to call a friend. I've watched him routinely go through $80-100 daily at one of our local watering holes, then get driven home. There's no way anyone is going to convince me that he's not still hammered when he gets up to go to work at 5am!

Yeah, I think there's a lot of morning-after drunk driving going on. As I recall, there was a crackdown on morning-after drunkenness a few months ago to raise awareness of the problem. People think that because they've had a few hours sleep, they're okay to drive, when they're not.

More charges in the morning? I don't know if that's the case or not. It wouldn't shock me, though.

People need to be aware that if they're having a night out and want to do a lot of drinking, they should be thinking about whether they'll need a car in the morning. If the will, then they should be careful about how much they drink.

Another reason why I left Canada for a better life...

Because you wanted to live somewhere where they're not tough on drunk driving?

[golf nut]

Re: new breathalizer rules

I know some women that can drink way more than me and they appear fine.

If you had a couple more beers they would appear to be stunning