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Manitoba gets tougher on drunk driving

By: Bruce Owen

Tuesday, May. 8, 2012 at 8:22 AM | Comments: 0

Postmedia News archives The ignition interlock system would be mandatory among first-time impaired drivers in Manitoba. (CNS VANCOUVER SUN)

ALL first-time impaired drivers will need to use an ignition interlock -- blowing into a device to start their car -- under new legislation introduced Monday by Attorney General Andrew Swan.

"We've said it before and we'll keep saying it until it reaches all Manitobans: We will not tolerate impaired driving," Swan said.

The proposed legislation would require all first-time impaired drivers to use an ignition interlock once their licence suspensions end and they resume driving. Last year, 1,800 people in Manitoba were convicted of impaired driving.

"Each one of those 1,800 people would now be subject to this new law," Swan said.

Currently, the ignition interlock -- a breathalyzer-like device that keeps a vehicle from starting if the driver has been drinking -- is mandatory for convicted impaired drivers granted a conditional driver's licence during their year suspension period. There are 208 devices now being used in Manitoba.

Under existing legislation, only first-time offenders convicted of impaired driving causing bodily harm or death, or of impaired driving with a child as a passenger, are required to use an ignition interlock.

Andrew Murie, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada chief executive officer, said the interlock is like a built-in rehabilitation program.

"Sure there needs to be fair and tough penalties, but the focus also has to be on the rehabilitation side of it, so that people separate drinking from driving," Murie said.

Ignition interlock systems are paid for by their users and monitored by an interlock service company. The costs include a $50 application fee, $150 installation fee, monthly monitoring fee of $105 and a $50 de-installation fee.

The province also says the new legislation would include tougher penalties for drivers who are required to use an ignition interlock but are caught driving without one.

Currently, offenders are charged with driving without a licence and face a fine of up to $2,000 if convicted. Under the proposed legislation, offenders would be charged with driving while disqualified, an offence which leads to stricter penalties including a fine of up to $5,000, up to one year in jail or both a fine and jail sentence.

The new legislation will likely begin to be enforced in about a year. It first has to be passed in the house before the end of June and then regulations drafted.

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca

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