By Greg Nikkel
A major part of the Christmas holiday season are get-togethers for celebration with friends, co-workers and family, and for some people, the celebrations involve alcohol.
The celebrations can be a lot of fun, unless you are one of those who get behind the wheel to drive after having a few beers, glasses of wine, or a few shots of hard liquor or in mixed drinks.
If you are pulled over by a member of the Weyburn Police Service or the RCMP, what happens to you? What is the procedure and what will happen to you and your vehicle.
I paid a visit to the Weyburn Police Service to find out first-hand just what is involved, including having a few drinks and after getting a ride with a member, going through the process of being tested by a breathalyzer, or as I was told, “it’s not a machine” but an approved instrument, the Intox EC/IR II.
The first point of contact for a member is when they pull a driver over, sometimes after seeing a driver weaving on the road, taking wide turns or otherwise driving in a way that draws their attention.
When the officer comes to the driver’s window, they ask for the licence and registration first off, and if they see signs of impairment, they may ask for a breath sample, or may arrest the driver on the spot if they are quite noticeably drunk or under the influence of a drug.
“It could be slow movements, slurred speech, red bloodshot eyes, or I might smell the alcohol on your breath,” said Sgt. Shane St. John.
He noted if there is some doubt about the level of impairment, the officer might ask if the drive has had anything to drink recently.
A request would be made for a roadside test, and the driver is then taken back to the police vehicle for this test. If the driver refuses, they are advised that they would then be charged under the Criminal Code of Canada, and the charge carries the same penalty as an impaired driving charge.
With the handheld device, if there is a reading between 0 and 0.4 blood-alcohol (for experienced drivers), the officer won’t charge the driver, said Sgt. St. John, “but I might tell you to get home and not drive anymore.”
If the reading is between .04 and .08, the driver will get a warning and an automatic provincial suspension of three days for the licence, and a three-day impoundment of the vehicle. If the reading turns read as over .08, this is a fail, and the driver is arrested and taken in to the police for a breathalyzer test.
“When they have a fail, they’re definitely impaired,” said the sergeant.
In this case, the vehicle is impounded for 60 days, and the licence is gone indefinitely until the matter is resolved in provincial court, he added.
This is much tougher than it used to be, and drivers need to know that if they are impaired, the licence is automatically gone.
Once a driver is arrested, they are read their rights and are taken to the police station. Once the police vehicle arrives, they are brought in to the room with the breath-testing instrument. They are provided with information for calling a lawyer, and are given the opportunity in a private room to make a call to the lawyer.
“We’ll dial the lawyer they want and tell them what the person has been brought in for, and we leave them in privacy to talk to the lawyer,” said Sgt. St. John. “After they return to the room, I will ask if they are going to provide a sample or not. Probably 95 per cent of the time they will provide a sample. If they say ‘yes, I understand’, that’s what we’ll do” and proceed with the breath test.
The unit is operated by a certified, trained officer, and takes precise readings of the level of alcohol in a person’s body. There are initially two readings taken, 15 minutes apart, and if the second reading is substantially different from the first one, a third reading is taken so that there are two readings of a similar level.
In the meantime, said Sgt. St. John, the officer has to observe the behaviour of the accused to make sure they don’t do anything to affect the test result or try to draw out the process on purpose. There is a videotape of the entire session in the breath-test room, recording everything they do and say.
Once the breath tests have been administered, a printout of the readings is provided to the driver, and if it’s at .08 or over, the driver will be charged with both impaired operation of a vehicle, and for driving with over .08 blood-alcohol.
In my case, I had three beers in about an hour’s time, and was driven back to the police station by Sgt. St. John who administered the breath test. I had two readings of .03, which meant had I been pulled over at the wheel, I wouldn’t have received the provincial suspension, but I would’ve been advised not to drive for a while. If I was a young driver, under 22 years of age, I would have automatically received the three-day provincial suspension by SGI, as they have a zero tolerance level for young drivers.
If a driver is obviously impaired but it’s not due to alcohol, then the driver has to be tested by a DRE or Drug Recognition Expert, which at the Weyburn Police Service is Const. Riley Ross.
A driver suspected of being impaired by drugs is first given a field sobriety test, which includes an eye test, a divided-attention test, and a balance test. If they do poorly on this, the driver will be brought in for a more extensive test at the police station.
“We do a quick breath test, and if it’s over the limit, we’ll just prosecute them for impairment by alcohol,” said Const. Ross. “If there are signs of impairment, I will do a DRE evaluation.”
This evaluation is a 12-step process which consists of different tests, including an eye test in a darkened room, as well as taking vital signs such as blood pressure and temperature. A toxicology demand will be made by getting a urine or blood sample, which will then be sent away for lab testing.
“It’s a lot more in-depth, usually taking 40 to 60 minutes,” said Const. Ross, pointing out that refusal to cooperate with this test will also lead to a refusal charge, which is a Criminal Code offence.
Once an impaired person is in custody, either they will be sent home with a friend or family member who can take care of them, or they are held in cells until they are sober, said Sgt. St. John.
“If they are grossly impaired, we keep an eye on them. Everybody’s safety comes first, and if there are injuries, we can have the EMS come in to check them out. They may recommend that they see a doctor or are taken to the hospital to be checked out,” said the sergeant. “We’re responsible for these people. We want to make sure they’re okay.”
Meantime, he said, if a driver wants to avoid all of this, they could make sure they have a safe ride home, or take advantage of the Weyburn Police’s program, “This Ride’s On Us” which is offered at most drinking establishments in Weyburn. This program will offer a free taxi ride home if someone voluntarily turns over their keys, and they can get the keys back the next day. An option also is to have the free ride, and pay the taxi company to drive their vehicle home for them rather than leaving it at the establishment overnight.
This program was extended through the Christmas and New Year’s seasons until the end of January 2018.
