Understanding Impaired Driving, Care and Control, and Refusal Charges in Canada
Do you know that about 9 drivers in Canada get arrested every hour for drunk driving?
That’s almost 216 charges every day. And according to the official criminal record, almost 489 people among a group of 1,00,000 in 2024 got charged for incidents directly related to operating a vehicle with a high head.
One good common cause people show after being charged with a heavy fine or jail for impaired driving is their unawareness of the severity of the charge.
Many also find it ignorable and casually get into their vehicles with alcohol in their blood. But the Country treats the charge with strict obligations and severe punishments.
If you or someone close is facing an impaired driving offence right now, you need to act fast. And the first step should be learning:
- What an impaired driving really means in Canada
- What grounds the court finds punishable
- What penalties follow upon found guilty
Understanding DUI Charges in Canada is crucial, as it helps you realize the seriousness of the situation. Let’s delve in:
What is an Impaired Driving Offence in Canada?
The term Impaired Driving holds great significance in the Criminal Code. This single term covers all types of offences that occur with the driver falling into any category of drunk.
Simply, you will be charged for Impaired Driving if you are found with an excessive dose of alcohol in your blood and a conveyance, either operating or about to operate.
In other countries, like the USA, legislative bodies use many other terms to describe the same offence. To name a few: Driving Under the Influence (DUI), Operating Under the Influence (OUI), Driving While Impaired (DWI), Operating a Vehicle Impaired (OVI), and so on.
What Makes You a Criminal in the Eye of the Law?
We will do our best to keep it simple when getting into the nitty-gritty parts of the sections of the Criminal Act relating to compromised driving.
For starters, your possession of a car becomes a crime if you:
- Have 0.08 mg or more alcohol in 100ml of your blood
- Show a lack of judgment when talking to the officer
- Get caught within 2 hours of your first sip or dose
- Have bloodshot eyes or a stammering mouth
- Hit someone, and that causes an injury or death
These are plain talks, highlighting the gist of the offence.
Now, let’s dig a little deeper.
Driving Under the Influence
Whether it was on a stand, speeding, going by traffic rules, hanging, or sitting, it won’t save you from getting charged. Not with the key in its ignition and/or you on it.
The sole focus of an Impaired Driving charge is on the amount of substance you have consumed, the time of consumption, and possession of a conveyance within 2 hours after that time.
Causing Harm to Body and Life
If someone gets injured or a death follows after a hit from your drive, it becomes punishable under several acts. But it will only end up in a DUI charge if the breathalyzer score reveals your drunkenness.
Care and Control Under the Influence
Care and control is a formal jargon that explains that the offender doesn’t need to be driving the vehicle to be held responsible and charged with a DUI offence. Simple having it in possession will suffice.
Refusal to Cooperation
Refusing to comply with the order of an on-duty officer can evoke a charge. Engaging in a verbal argument and creating a scene in order to evade the charge and hide evidence are also serious offences.
What are the Penalties of an Impaired Driving Charge?
The Criminal Act allows the court to penalize an impaired offender under one or more sections. From a criminal record, fine, and jail, to even a life sentence, the more severe the offence, the more gruesome the penalty.
Criminal Record
A compulsory concussion, the big red criminal record book will get your name written with permanent ink.
Fines
The court may prescribe a fine proportionate to your Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) score. The higher the score, the higher the fine.
- $1000 for a BAC score of 0.08 to 0.119
- $1500 for a BAC score of 0.128 to 0.159
- $2000 for a BAC score above 0.159
Other criteria for a fine are:
- $1000 for combined usage
- $2000 for non-compliant acts
Jail Time
Jail time is for repetitive offenders. Anyone charged with a first-degree impaired driving offence won’t be put behind bars.
But from second-degree offenders, the condition will start worsening.
Second-degree: 20 days of jail time
Third-degree: 30 days of jail time
Repetitive Offenders: A maximum of 10 years of jail time
Repeated Case with Bodily Harm: A maximum of 14 years of jail time
Life Sentence
A life sentence is the highest level of punishment, only issued when the offender has killed someone.
Bottom Lines
An Impaired Driving charge can escalate from trivial to lethal based on factors, like BAC level, damage to the property and life, and the count of repetitions. The Canadian legal system governs with strict mandates and obligations in punishing such offences. The best is to understand impaired driving and its consequences and practice self-control.
