Nova Scotia is about to get tougher on drinking drivers.
As a result of a change to the province’s Motor Vehicle Act that goes into effect on Oct. 26, drivers with blood-alcohol levels between 50 milligrams and 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood will lose their licences for seven days for a first offence, up from 24 hours. The penalty for a second offence is 15 days and 30 days for a third offence.
Drivers also must pay an $89.63 fee to get their licences reinstated.
Those discovered to have 80 milligrams of alcohol or higher in 100 millilitres of blood will continue to face criminal charges.
Margaret Miller, the national past president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said the move is something the organization has been advocating for many years.
"I think, literally, eight to 10 years it’s been on our radar as one of the measures that would significantly reduce impaired-driving deaths and injuries," said the Shubenacadie woman whose son was killed by a drunk driver in 2004.
The change to the Motor Vehicle Act was passed last October but its implementation has been delayed. In an interview in May, Transportation Minister Bill Estabrooks blamed the delay on computer problems at Service Nova Scotia.
Miller said her organization will continue to push for random breath testing as another way to reduce the 70,000 deaths and injuries due to impaired driving that occur in Canada every year.
Random breath testing is used in many countries around the world, where statistics show decreases in deaths and injuries of 18 to 35 per cent after the random tests were introduced, she said.
"The real expectation in Canada is that if random breath testing comes into play, we’re going to see 20 per cent less deaths and injuries. If you take that from the 70,000, that’s a small town in Nova Scotia that will not be affected each year. . . . When you start looking at those numbers, my only question as a mother who has lost somebody is ‘Why didn’t they do this years ago?
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