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A coroner in Quebec has stated that if the province’s penalties for drunk driving matched those of other regions in Canada, a driver responsible for a fatal collision with a motorcyclist in 2020 would likely not have been operating a vehicle at the time of the incident.
Coroner Geneviève Thériault reported that the individual who struck the motorcyclist had been stopped by Quebec provincial police for erratic driving less than an hour prior to the deadly crash on June 4, 2020.
Upon being pulled over, the driver was tested with a breathalyzer, which indicated a blood alcohol level ranging from 50 to 99 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood. However, this result did not conclusively determine whether he exceeded the legal threshold of 80 mg per 100 ml as outlined in the Criminal Code.
According to the provincial police, readings that fall in the zone of 50 to 99 mg of alcohol require additional evidence of impairment for an arrest to be made, which, in this case, was deemed insufficient.
The coroner’s report, published on Tuesday, highlighted that police informed the driver that he might be over the legal limit and advised him to either call a friend or wait before getting back behind the wheel. This incident occurred in Grenville, Quebec, just across the Ottawa River from Hawkesbury, Ontario.
Thériault noted in her report, “Since the test result did not confirm that the legal limit for driving a motor vehicle, set at less than 80 mg/100 ml, was exceeded, the patrol officers informed the driver that he could be over the legal limit and that if he was involved in an accident he could be charged with impaired driving.”
The driver reportedly stated that he intended to pull over before resuming his journey. Unfortunately, fifty-two minutes later, a collision occurred on a provincial highway approximately 50 kilometers away, resulting in the death of 64-year-old Bernard D’Aragon, a seasoned motorcyclist, who died on impact. At the time of the crash, both vehicles were traveling at speeds around 90 kilometers per hour. The driver was ultimately convicted of dangerous driving causing death.
Notably, Quebec remains the only province without administrative penalties for blood alcohol levels between 50 and 80 mg per 100 ml; drivers in this range are not subject to immediate license suspension or other repercussions. For comparison, Saskatchewan has set its provincial threshold at 40 mg per 100 ml.
Thériault emphasized, “Quebec is now isolated on the issue of administrative sanctions, as it appears that all provinces and territories in Canada have adopted such sanctions to reduce the number of deaths and accidents related to impaired driving.”
She further argued that if Quebec had implemented comparable administrative sanctions in 2020, police would have been able to suspend the driver’s license and impound the vehicle during the initial stop, effectively preventing the tragic accident.
Among Thériault’s recommendations for the province’s automobile insurance board and the Transport Department is an amendment to the Highway Safety Code to enforce administrative penalties on drivers with a blood-alcohol concentration of 50 mg per 100 ml or higher. This marks the second occurrence of Thériault advocating for a reduction of the legal limit in Quebec, following similar calls from other coroners in 2023. The Coalition Avenir Québec government has consistently resisted lowering the limit.
In her closing remarks, Thériault stressed the urgency of the situation, stating, “It is essential to act early to protect human life, and I believe we must act without further delay.”
Source
globalnews.ca