Kudos to the Ontario Attorney General for stepping up to the plate and taking the problem of alcohol on our roads seriously.
On February 20, 2008, a new civil law came in to effect that will mean repeat DUI offenders run the risk of losing their vehicles. If a vehicle has been involved in, or is likely to be involved in, a DUI offense and is owned or operated by someone with two or more DUI convictions, the courts can impound the vehicle and force its forfeiture. The vehicle will then go to public auction and victims of the crime can apply for compensation from the proceeds of the sale.
Responsible vehicle owners can apply to have their vehicles returned if certain court-imposed conditions are met, such as the installation of an ignition interlock or having the owner agree that the DUI offender would no longer have access to the vehicle.
This new law is a good start and one for each and every province to follow suit on.
The next step is to stiffen fines, sentences, and driving bans on DUI offenders. Driving is a privilege and the message needs to go out that if you abuse it, you lose it. A DUI conviction should mean an automatic license suspension. Repeat offenders should run the risk of being permanently banned from driving as well as facing serious jail time.
In this day and age, there is no excuse for getting behind the wheel of a car after you've been drinking. That applies not only to the problem drinkers but to the casual drinkers who have 'a few' and then drive.
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4 comments:
Permanetly suspending a driver does not work, either does very long suspensions as is currently the case in Ontario. Having suspended drivers out driving without a license and possibly drinking is of no benefit to anyone. This is where the early ignition interlock comes into play, currently regulations are being written for this to be due out by the end of 2008. The important thing that must be done in implementing this is to make sure it gets on all offendes vehicles, especially those who are currently serving the 5 year 10 year and lifetime driving bans. Ontario has to allow these offenders to install them as well for reduced suspensions. Having them on the cars of offenders will save lives period and have unlicenesed drivers under the control of a licensing control board. What may happen though is making this program only available to newly convicted offenders once it becomes law, a serious mistake as it will leave a very large portion of offenders out of the control of an ignition interlock and licensing control board. This program must be made retroactive to allow participation by all, past, present and futuer offenders. There is an online petition to be sent to the mto in hopes that they will do exactly this. The public can sign it here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ontarioearlyignitioninterlock/index.html Help get it right!
suspending liceneses is just plain stupid, it causes families of offenders to lose everything from homes to savings due to loss of employment ect ect .. so is jail time... how about helping people who may have alcoholism, a disease people. You wouldn't treat people with cancer ect like this so don't do it to others. Tired of organizations like MADD ect abusing people who have a disease and trying year after year to get outrageous penalties and sanctions, its one thing to punish but to try and get these outrageous laws passed is disgusting. It's time polititions start saying no to anything MADD pushes for wiothout fer of being ridiculed as supporting drunk driving. Besides MADD is now in place to make money for there big fat salaries what will they go after once the ignition interlocks are standard and drunk driving is'nt a p[roblem anymore.. they will find something to keep those donations pouriong in and there pockets full of money with far away conferences and big fat retirement and pay stubs.. Help people don't destroy them!!!
I'm sorry, anon July 12, suspending licenses is not stupid. As a matter of fact, it should be done more frequently and for longer periods of time.
Driving is a privilege, not a right. If you abuse it, you lose it; end of story. If I had it my way, repeat DUI offenders would face an automatic lifetime ban from driving.
Alcoholism is an addiction, just like addictions to drugs, tobacco, or pain killers. Having an addiction does not give you an excuse to commit a crime or to put other people's lives at risk. DUI is a criminal offense. If offenders "lose everything" by committing it, then don't expect any sympathy from the general public. Over 1,000 people die every year in Canada because someone got behind the wheel while under the influence. 1,000 people. That's an average of 3 people each and every day. It's been 7 days since you posted your comments, so statistically, 21 people have died because of DUI offenders. Let me repeat that; statistically, 21 people have died because of DUI offenders. Now tell me again why we should cut them some slack?
There are plenty of treatment centers for people with alcoholism. There is no excuse for not getting help and there is no excuse for drinking and driving. From my point of view there should be zero tolerance for them as well.
Sorry but you are wrong yet again, i suggest you open a medical book and be enlightened to find that alcoholism is a Disease. And as long as there are ignition interlocks that should be made available to offenders then yes, suspensions of 5 years, 10 years and lifetime bans are on the draconian side of things and not much help at all. What about the hundreds who have gone to these treatment centres or AA and have controled there disease. Should they be punished for the rest of there lives? with license suspensions ect ect, even bank robbers and other criminals have a chance for rehabilitation why should a drunk driver be punished for the rest of his life as long as he has his disease under control. A license is very much needed for people to make a living especially with the state of public transit and costs of housing in the city. A punishement yes, a draconian lifetime punishment "no". Nobody said there should be no punishment but common sense should prevail, the technology is there so use it and perhaps in sentencing make treatment for the disease a part of the solution. Do you know how many have died from alcoholism since your last post, i can tell you it is many more then 21. Hopefully the MTO will make the proper decision and allow all be punished right now to use the ignition interlock and provide for there family while getting any help they may need. Have a nice day and hopefully some common sense will find it into your mind. B
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