Ontario government to impose severe penalties on impaired drivers

Drunk and drug-impaired motorists who kill while behind the wheel could lose their driver’s licences for life under tough new penalties being proposed by the Ontario government.

 

Roadside suspensions for first and second offences would also be increased, Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria will announce Wednesday.

 

“Too many families in Ontario have had their lives torn apart by the careless and shameful actions of impaired drivers,” he said in a statement obtained by the Star.

 

“Everyone deserves to return home to their loved ones safely.”

 

Sarkaria proposed tougher penalties for car thieves Tuesday, including the possibility of lifetime driving bans.

Drivers convicted of impaired driving would also be required to install ignition interlock devices in their vehicles, screening their breath for alcohol levels.

 

The proposed changes follow public outrage at cases like the one involving convicted drunk driver Marco Muzzo, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2016 and saw his driver’s licence suspended for 12 years after he blew through a stop sign on the way home from the airport after an alcohol-fuelled bachelor party in Miami in 2015, killing three children from the Neville-Lake family and their grandfather.

 

Muzzo was released on full parole after five years in prison and will be eligible to drive again in 2028.

 

Mothers Against Drunk Driving applauded the tougher line on impaired motorists.

“Despite progress, too many people are still making the choice to drive impaired,” the organization said in a statement in advance of Wednesday’s announcement.

 

Immediate roadside suspensions for a first impaired offence would increase to seven days from three, and to 14 days from seven for second offences, Sarkaria said.

 

Police will also be given new training and tools to detect increasing instances of cannabis-impaired driving, and there will be a public education campaign focusing on young drivers.

 

The government said one in three fatalities on the road involves impaired driving and the percentage of drivers killed under the influence of cannabis doubled between 2012 and 2020.

 

 

 

This article was first reported by The Star