Province targets impaired drivers, car thieves with tougher penalties

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Getting busted for driving drunk or stoned on drugs will result in tougher penalties this year.

The Safer Roads and Communities Act, which became law in November, stipulates that any motorist who causes the death of another person while impaired behind the wheel faces an indefinite licence revocation. The law also escalates suspensions for convicted auto thieves, and contains provisions which would allow a court to prohibit drivers from having any drugs or alcohol in their systems.

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The new law, said Transport Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria, will improve safety on Ontario’s streets.

“It would improve safety and protect families and communities by targeting road users who engage in dangerous behaviour, including impaired driving and stunt driving, as well as those convicted of auto theft,” Sarkaria said in the legislature after tabling the bill.

Drivers convicted of auto theft who either threaten or use violence in the commission of their crime — or steal cars under the direction of a criminal organization — will see their licences revoked for a minimum of 10 years for their first offence.

Subsequent convictions will increase that term to 15 years, with further convictions seeing offenders lose their licences indefinitely.

Drivers caught with blood alcohol concentrations between 0.05 to 0.08 will see administrative licence suspensions increased from three days to seven days for a first offence, with repeat offenders subject to a 14-day suspension — up from the previous penalty of seven days.

The new law also adds provisions to the Highway Traffic Act which allows a court to impose a licence condition that drivers have no trace of alcohol or drugs in their bodies.

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In addition, the bill will grant new powers to MTO enforcement officers, allowing them to exceed speed limits to perform traffic stops as part of their enforcement duties, as well as commence a review of the province’s commercial driver training program.

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