Is it .08 or not?
There is a big kerfuffle in British Columbia about the accuracy of portable breathalyzers police forces are using to measure the blood alcohol level of suspected drunk drivers.
Those accuracy questions should be of concern to every driver in Canada, not just in British Columbia.
It’s bad enough that some innocent people may have been convicted with inaccurate reading from the machines … it’s even more worrying that drunk drivers may have been set free and sent on their way because the machine they blew into was wonky.
Read more: http://www.thewesternstar.com/Opinion/Editorial/2011-12-29/article-2849913/Is-it-.08-or-not/1
Breathalyzer tests need to be reliable
A controversy in B.C. about the reliability of breathalyzers used by police in roadside tests should raise red flags in this province, too.
A Vancouver lawyer’s examination of the situation through access to information requests raises questions about the accuracy of such tests. Paul Doroshenko’s investigation showed that in one case, a sober Abbotsford, B.C., police officer failed a breathalyzer screening while testing the machine.
Doroshenko’s study of documents revealed a host of problems with the machines in several B.C. communities including Vancouver, Abbotsford, Whistler, Kitimat, Kamloops and Port Moody, with none of the troubles reported to the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles, according to a Canadian Press story in Tuesday’s Lethbridge Herald.
Read More: http://www.lethbridgeherald.com/opinions/breathalyzer-tests-need-to-be-reliable-122911.html
Records show police alcohol monitoring equipment is malfunctioning
Records from police detachments around the province show roadside screening devices are malfunctioning or being improperly maintained says a Vancouver criminal defence lawyer.
Paul Doroshenko believes this is why portable breath analyzers should never have been used to provide blood-alcohol results that allow police officers to unilaterally suspend driver’s licences for 90 days.
“I’ve been so disgusted by this law. I find it so offensive that innocent people can be so punished,” Doroshenko said.
Follow up by CTV – watch the Abbotsford explanation
CTV drove out to Abbotsford to follow up on the Canadian Press story published on boxing day. Watch the video. We’ll comment about it on the blog.
Documents cast doubt on accuracy of breathalyzers
News that a sober Abbotsford, B.C., police officer tried out the department’s breathalyzer and failed the test is enough to send chills down the spine of any designated driver in this holiday season.
A Vancouver lawyer says the machines police rely on to take drunk drivers off the road and deliver hefty financial penalties are notoriously faulty and things haven’t improved in the year since more than 2,000 were taken out of service for recalibration.
Although access to information documents show a litany of problems with the devices in Vancouver, Abbotsford, Whistler, Kitimat, Kamloops and Port Moody, none of the problems have been reported to the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles, the body that polices roadside penalties.
“This sort of undermines the confidence in the justice system from two different respects because if you’re using a wonky system to collect evidence and you can come to me and I can show you the problems with it, who’s going to trust the system?” asked lawyer Paul Doroshenko.
Accused drunk drivers expected to file class action
Lawyers are predicting the B.C. government could be hit with a class action lawsuit to recover millions of dollars paid by suspected drunk drivers based on part of a law that has been declared unconstitutional.
Beginning last September, when B.C. introduced its tough new law, 15,000 drivers failed the roadside breath test and paid millions of dollars in penalties.
That includes people like Navi Tagger, who blew a fail after he was pulled over on Nov. 19. Tagger was the designated driver that night, and says he had only consumed a single beer.
His lawyer Sarah Leamon says she’s getting mixed messages from the government when it comes to getting drivers back on the road.
“It seems that there’s a great deal of inconsistency,” she said.
She agrees that drivers punished under the tough law deserve some sort of recourse.
“People should get some kind of a remedy at the very least, whether that’s having all of their money refunded to them, having their licence granted back to them or having the ignition interlock removed from their vehicle,” Leamon said.
The government hasn’t said what its position will be on refunding the fines.
More: http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20111215/bc_drunk_driving_class_action_111215/20111215/?hub=BritishColumbiaHome
Roadside breath tests not always accurate: documents
Internal police documents are raising doubts about the precision of some roadside breathalyzers used by B.C. police to catch drunk drivers.
Vancouver lawyer Paul Doroshenko filed Access to Information requests with police departments across the province and found that the screening devices aren’t always accurate.
Paul Doroshenko Vancouver Criminal Lawyer
Inspection documents from the Vancouver Police Department show some erratic readings on those tools.
“Sometimes they grossly inflate the reading that should be reflected on the unit,” Doroshenko said.
During a monthly calibration in February, one machine calibrated with a standard chemical solution showed a reading of .117 — when it should have registered .082.
If the reading had been off by that much on the road, it might have meant the difference between the “warning” level and a “fail.”
“We don’t know how many people blew into it — how many people blew a fail who were not actually over the limit,” Doroshenko said.
http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20111209/bc_road_side_breath_tests_inaccurate_111209/20111209/?hub=BritishColumbiaHome
Ruling puts accused drunk drivers back on the road
Hundreds of people who lost their licences after failing roadside breathalyzer tests are getting their permits back after a B.C. judge tossed out part of the province’s tough law against drinking and driving.
Last week, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Jon Sigurdson ruled that the immediate 90-day driving suspensions issued to drivers who register a blood alcohol level above .08 constitute an infringement of drivers’ Charter rights.
Lawyer Paul Doroshenko says he’s filed reams of petitions to the court since the decision was handed down, on behalf of people who want their driving bans and $500 administrative penalties lifted on an interim basis.
“In most of the cases, if we can meet the legal test, we get the driving prohibition suspended,” he told CTV News.
Doroshenko said the judge was right to strike down part of the law, which has been called the toughest in Canada.
“My biggest concern with this legislation is relying on roadside breath testers and the honesty of police when you can’t assess their honesty,” he said.
Doroshenko says that he has filed numerous Access to Information requests with police departments across the province, and has serious concerns about how officers are using their roadside breath-testers.
In Vancouver, for example, “You can see that a lot of the devices give readings they shouldn’t be giving when they test them for calibration,” Doroshenko said.
“Sometimes they grossly inflate the reading that should be reflected on the unit.”
http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20111208/470_bc_driving_bans_lifted_for_drunk_drivers_111208/20111208?hub=BritishColumbia
Hundreds trying to get licences back
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A Vancouver lawyer is very busy, getting banned drivers their licences back. The cases are piling up since the BC Supreme Court ruled against the province’s tough new drunk driving laws last week.
Paul Doroshenko says he represents at least 100 people who’ve been hit with a 90-day driving prohibition but are due to get their licences back.
He says some individuals are desperate to have their driving bans overturned.
“Many, many people lost their jobs as a result of this, as anybody who had to drive for a living lost their job because nobody was sticking an Interlock (an in-car alcohol breath screening device) in the grader they operate or the quad they drive up a cutline.”
For now, the licences are being returned after a petition to the courts, but Doroshenko foresees a class action lawsuit launched by people who lost their jobs because of a law that has now been deemed unconstitutional.
http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article/308259–hundreds-trying-get-licences-back#.TuGLM60Dhac.twitter
