The B.C. government has rolled out its court-ordered adjustments to the province’s tough drunk-driving law, promising that drivers who blow over the legal limit will have more chances to challenge their readings.
The proposed changes come in response to a November B.C. Supreme Court ruling that part of the law was unconstitutional because it was too harsh and lacked a “meaningful review process.”
Drivers will also be able to challenge the reliability of the breathalyzer that failed them and police will have to submit documentation proving the instruments have been properly calibrated. Internal police documents obtained by lawyer Paul Doroshenko last year showed that some units used by the Vancouver Police Department were giving inflated readings, while police in Port Moody were using the same chemical solution to perform too many calibration tests.
But Doroshenko told CTV News that the changes don’t go far enough and the government’s solution doesn’t include a remedy for those who were punished under the unconstitutional legislation.
“I think this a lot of window dressing. It doesn’t deal with the real issue of using these devices on the roadside. They’re just not reliable enough to justify the punishment,” he said.