When word of the new impaired driving law came out we, the public did what we so often do; we took one part of it out and blew it up way out of proportion.
We did not bother to check it out or research it in any way before we started shouting about it.
I am saying ‘we’ because I am ashamed to admit it but I am one of the many who spread the word.
Then I started to think that this was making our respected police into ‘Nazi rule enforcers’ and I did not like that idea.
I checked out the government websites but that just got me even more confused so then I talked to police officers in two different jurisdictions.
I discovered that this new law is not that different from the old law and not nearly as bad as people think.
Yes, they can come to your house and ask for a breathalyzer test; but they still need to have a good reason to do that.
One of the biggest reasons this law was brought into effect was the hit and run accidents, where the suspect was able to run home and even with eye witnesses, the police were not allowed to get a breathalyzer test on the person once he or she was in their house.
This law allows them to do that if they have reasonable suspicion that this is the suspect, such as eye-witness reports or seeing damage on the vehicle in the driveway, that fits the accident scene scenario.
So many people were worried about the poor schmuck who has had a horrible day at work and goes straight to the booze cupboard the minute he gets home.
Well, this poor guy is still safe because again they need ‘reasonable suspicion’ to go there and even if the poor guy has someone who dislikes him enough to report his car and license plate number, the police will still investigate and come to their own conclusion.
I would think that they have seen enough drunks to recognize one when they see one.
So, I no longer think that we have ‘Nazi laws’ for our police.
What we do have is too many selfish, ignorant people who are drunk and still drive.
This must make the lawmakers so very frustrated.
It doesn’t seem to matter how stiff they make the penalties they just can’t seem to get through those thick skulls and into those pea-sized brains that driving drunk can kill.
The only people who need to worry about this or any impaired driving law are the idiots who drive while drunk.
So, don’t be an idiot, don’t drink and drive.
by Lois Perepelitz
