Drivers caught drinking and driving could have more than a fine to contend with after tougher impaired driving laws were announced last week.
The new regulations mean anyone who earns more than six remedial program points through repeated impaired driving infractions or who receive a 90-day immediate roadside prohibition will have to participate in the province’s responsible driver program, according to a press release from the Ministry of Public Safety.
New Westminster Police Chief Const. Dave Jones applauded the new regulations, adding that education is important.
“There’s enforcement, education and engineering, and this would fall into the education part of it,” he told the Record. “Enforcement isn’t just your sole answer, or engineering, there has to be those three components in terms of educating people or changing people’s behaviours or attitudes towards anything,”
Drivers are slapped with remedial program points for certain impaired driving penalties. Drivers who amass more than eight points during a five-year period will also have to participate in the Ignition Interlock Program, where a device is installed in a vehicle to prevent drivers from driving after consuming alcohol.
Three things to know about the new regulations:
1) It only takes three 24-hour driving prohibitions before drivers have to take the responsible driver program.
2) A 90-day immediate roadside prohibition results in an automatic referral for the responsible driver program.
3) The new regulations were, in part, created to target high-risk drivers who may get off because of financial or hardship considerations.
