Kostman & Pyzer has successfully defended numerous cases involving drinking and driving allegations. Our law firm has extensive experience in this area of law. Kostman & Pyzer will fight for your right to make full answer and defence by raising every possible and realistic defence at your disposal. We will challenge the legality of the traffic stop, expose deficiencies in the breath test procedure, or raise an “evidence to the contrary” defence supported by the expert evidence of a toxicologist. We will vigorously cross-examine police and civilian witnesses in an effort to attack the reliability and accuracy of the evidence collected by the police. We fight for your rights and we fight to win!
If you are charged with a drinking and driving related offence such as “impaired driving” or “over 80” do not plead guilty before you consult a criminal lawyer since you may have a defence to the allegation. The consequences of a conviction for drinking and driving can be life altering. If found guilty of a drinking and driving related offence, you will have a criminal record, you will be prohibited from driving for a minimum of one year and you will have to pay a fine of not less than $600.00. If you are convicted a second or third time you will face jail time. The minimum sentence for a second drinking and driving conviction is fourteen days in jail and the minimum sentence for a third conviction is ninety days in jail. If someone is injured or killed as a result of your drinking and driving, the penalties increase significantly. The Highway Traffic Act also carries its own separate suspensions and penalties in addition to those sanctions imposed by the Criminal Code of Canada. Under the Highway Traffic Act, once you are charged with a drinking and driving offence, your licence is automatically suspended for ninety days. If you are convicted, you will not automatically have your license reinstated once the Criminal Code Prohibition and Highway Traffic Act suspensions have expired. You will have to take a course and complete a program called “Back on Track, Ontario's Remedial Measures Program”. This course currently costs hundreds of dollars and can take months to complete. In addition, you will have to pay an additional fee to get your licence reinstated. Upon reinstatement of your license you will be forced to install an ignition device in your motor vehicle before you are able to drive again. Your automobile insurance rates will soar! If your occupation involves driving a motor vehicle, you may lose your livelihood.
In Canada, there are a number of drinking and driving related charges under the Criminal Code. You may be charged with a drinking and driving related charge in any of the following circumstances:
Drive Over 80 mg.:
The legal blood alcohol level in Canada is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 milliliters of blood. “Over 80” refers to the amount of alcohol in your bloodstream as calculated by a breath or blood test.
Impaired Driving:
Impaired operation of a motor vehicle occurs when your ability to drive a motor vehicle is impaired, however slightly, as a result of the consumption of alcohol or drugs. Indicia of impairment that the police ordinarily rely upon as evidence of this offence may include: erratic driving, odour of an alcoholic beverage, slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, and unsteadiness or lack of coordination.
Refuse Breath / Blood Sample:
A person can also be convicted of a drinking and driving related criminal offence for refusing or failing to provide a suitable breath sample. Once a police officer makes a request to provide a breath sample into an approved machine, you have a legal duty to provide a sample of your breath. A conviction for either failing or refusing to provide a breath sample carries the same penalties and consequences as a conviction for driving while impaired or driving "over 80 mgs."
Care and Control:
A person does not have to be caught in the act of driving a motor vehicle, or be sitting in the driver’s seat of a vehicle, in order to be charged with the offence of “care and control of a motor vehicle” while their ability to operate that vehicle is impaired or their blood-alcohol level is over the legal limit. It is a criminal offence to merely have “care and control” of the motor vehicle while in that state. The Criminal Code of Canada deems a person to be in “care and control” of a vehicle if they are found to be occupying the driver's seat. A person can be convicted of “care and control” if they are sleeping in the driver's seat of a parked car without having ever driven the motor vehicle! This presumption can be rebutted, however, if we establish that you did not intend to drive the motor vehicle when you entered the driver’s seat, and the Crown is unable to prove that you performed some act that involve the risk of putting the vehicle it in motion.
