[Newsbot]

Title: Young Quebec drivers face zero-tolerance DUI policy
Category: Law & Order
Posted By: Hyack
Date: 2012-04-15 15:37:42
Canadian

[martin14]

Good move.

The Western provinces should follow this.

[Hyack]

martin14 martin14:

Good move.

The Western provinces should follow this.

Oh yeah, agreed, but these policies should have been in effect across Canada for years now.

[jeff744]

Yes, because young drivers are the only ones that drive drunk.

[andyt]

jeff744 jeff744:

Yes, because young drivers are the only ones that drive drunk.

It's not about driving drunk, there's a law against that for everybody. It's about the impairment that comes even from being under the limit coupled with the often harebrained driving of young people. Too bad, so sad, they've got to wait 2 years after being legally allowed to drink to drink anything and drive.

Now they should apply the same law to new drivers of any age. In BC they have to display an N sticker and have certain restrictions on them. Not drinking should be one of them. Of course I don't really know, maybe that's already in place.

But I have to admit, if this law was in place when I was under 21, I would have been in deep shit.

[martin14]

jeff744 jeff744:

Yes, because young drivers are the only ones that drive drunk.

No, but it is certainly time to get drinking and driving out of society.

[Hyack]

Thanks andy, you see jeff, there are easier ways to expand a topic other than just making some asinine statement.

[jeff744]

andyt andyt:

jeff744 jeff744:

Yes, because young drivers are the only ones that drive drunk.

It's not about driving drunk, there's a law against that for everybody. It's about the impairment that comes even from being under the limit coupled with the often harebrained driving of young people. Too bad, so sad, they've got to wait 2 years after being legally allowed to drink to drink anything and drive.

Now they should apply the same law to new drivers of any age. In BC they have to display an N sticker and have certain restrictions on them. Not drinking should be one of them. Of course I don't really know, maybe that's already in place.

But I have to admit, if this law was in place when I was under 21, I would have been in deep shit.

So, the lady that got caught over the limit twice and later went on to do it a third time (that we know of) where she flew past my aunt and uncle on the highway and processed to cause a crash which killed, iirc, 6 deaths but not hers, should have been allowed to still have her licence at the time of the accident?

In fact, when I worked on the highways, the young drivers drove far better than the middle aged or up ones because they actually slowed down for me.

[andyt]

You're confusing issues here Jeff. Come on, you can do better than that. The lady who was twice over the limit was breaking the law, and the law should have dealt with her appropriately. Her age is irrelevant. But the 20 yr old numbnuts running on testosterone maybe doesn't need any other mind altering substance in his bloodstream.

I don't think this law will accomplish much. It's discriminatory to young people. But it's not some huge infringement either. In BC now if they catch you above .05m you face some pretty severe penalties, no matter what your age. Lots of howling about that one too. I say good.

You can argue that you should be able to drive gooned out of your mind as long as you don't cause an accident. I've done so, and got away with it. I don't think the loss in lives a law like that would cause is worth the libertarian rush we would get from it.

[jeff744]

andyt andyt:

You're confusing issues here Jeff. Come on, you can do better than that. The lady who was twice over the limit was breaking the law, and the law should have dealt with her appropriately. Her age is irrelevant. But the 20 yr old numbnuts running on testosterone maybe doesn't need any other mind altering substance in his bloodstream.

I don't think this law will accomplish much. It's discriminatory to young people. But it's not some huge infringement either. In BC now if they catch you above .05m you face some pretty severe penalties, no matter what your age. Lots of howling about that one too. I say good.

You can argue that you should be able to drive gooned out of your mind as long as you don't cause an accident. I've done so, and got away with it. I don't think the loss in lives a law like that would cause is worth the libertarian rush we would get from it.

My issue is that it paints the young people as terrible drivers, yet I have found repeatedly that the absolute worst ones are middle aged drivers that don't seem to realize that they are risking the lives of everyone else on the road. Meanwhile I found that the young drivers are the best because they are already on a system that can make getting their licence a pain in the arse. Maybe they should implement this policy across the board instead of saying that young drivers are the worst. I grew up in an area where alcohol is rampant, the young drivers were smart enough to get DDs, apparently that is too hard for people later on.

[andyt]

And what's your expertise in assessing who are the worst drivers? The insurance industry spends a lot of time and effort assessing risk. Young male unmarried drives are about as risky as they come. I guess limiting this law to them would be seen as too discriminatory, so they just discriminate against young drivers. In BC, at least, that just would mean they have to wait 2 years after they can legally drink to legally drink and drive. As I said, to a degree BC has implemented that policy across the board, with administrative penalties harsher than what's happening in Quebec if you blow over .05.

Bet there will be lots of challenges to this law, since just using mouthwash will give a positive reading here.

One disclaimer, I believe seniors are actually the most dangerous per mile driven, but the drive so few miles they cost insurance companies a lot less money. But I would have no problem with extending this law to seniors either - they also have lots of problems already, don't need a woozy head on top of it.

Hell, I keep advocating for total prohibition on alcohol. Problem solved.

[Unsound]

martin14 martin14:

Good move.

The Western provinces should follow this.

I don't know about the other provinces, but in Alberta we've had graduated driver's licences for years now. Frustraating for those who were on the cusp when they brought it in, but a good idea nonetheless, imo.

$1:

To become a Probationary Driver (Class 5-GDL) you must:
•Be 16 years of age or older.

•Have held a Class 7 licence at least one year.

•Pass the basic Alberta Class 5 road test.


Probationary Conditions
•Must spend a minimum of 2 years as a probationary driver.

•Not permitted to more passengers than seat belts.

•They will be suspended at 8 demerit points rather points rather than the 15 for fully licensed drivers.

•Have a zero alcohol level.

•No upgrading to a commercial licence (Classes 1, 2, 3 or 4).

•Cannot serve as an accompanying driver to a learner.


To become a fully licensed driver (Class 5) you must:
•Have been suspension free for the last year of the 2-year Probationary Stage.

•Pass an advanced road test.

[jeff744]

andyt andyt:

And what's your expertise in assessing who are the worst drivers? The insurance industry spends a lot of time and effort assessing risk. Young male unmarried drives are about as risky as they come. I guess limiting this law to them would be seen as too discriminatory, so they just discriminate against young drivers. In BC, at least, that just would mean they have to wait 2 years after they can legally drink to legally drink and drive. As I said, to a degree BC has implemented that policy across the board, with administrative penalties harsher than what's happening in Quebec if you blow over .05.

Bet there will be lots of challenges to this law, since just using mouthwash will give a positive reading here.

One disclaimer, I believe seniors are actually the most dangerous per mile driven, but the drive so few miles they cost insurance companies a lot less money. But I would have no problem with extending this law to seniors either - they also have lots of problems already, don't need a woozy head on top of it.

Hell, I keep advocating for total prohibition on alcohol. Problem solved.

I worked as a flagger on the highway, the ranking I found were natives > young > middle > senior > truckers. For the young drivers I could safely stand near the shoulder in the event something went wrong and I had to run, with the middle aged I had to get closer to the middle, with the seniors I had to stand in the middle of their path and have a very clear escape route and be ready to run in the event they didn't see me fast enough to stop. You could tell which group was which from how early they would start to slow down.

I also learned that the middle aged and truckers do not slow down when passing you, in fact, I am pretty sure they speed up just to try and smoke you with as many rocks as they can. when the younger drivers see you they tend to slow down a fair bit, the seniors do it because there is a lot of stuff going on ahead (we actually had to wave a couple through inside the construction area because they refused to move), the natives drive pretty damned close to perfect.

SGI gets their stats when accidents happen, I know them by which group is more likely to pet me with rocks because they think they don't need to slow down. I am amazed that we only had one incident and that was internal, there could easily have been dozens (not counting the ones our backhoe driver almost caused because of his tunnel vision)

[Brenda]

andyt andyt:

... In BC they have to display an N sticker and have certain restrictions on them. Not drinking should be one of them. Of course I don't really know, maybe that's already in place.

It is actually.
http://www.icbc.com/driver-licensing/ge ... vice-stage

[raydan]

Before this law, new drivers in Québec had a Probationary Licence.

$1:

The probationary licence, which is valid for 24 months, comes with a set of restrictions that distinguishes you from other drivers.

Probationary licence holders must have fewer than 4 demerit points entered on their driving record and are prohibited from driving after drinking alcohol.