OPP to apply mandatory alcohol screening at every traffic stop

So we stopped someone for a speeding or a distracted driving or whatever. We would go up to the driver, introduce ourselves and tell them why the reason we stopped them. Ask them for the driver’s license, ownership and insurance. You know, along with that, we’d also read them a demand. It would sound something like I demand that you provide a sample of your breath into an approved screening device. Drivers must comply with a demand for a breath sample under Canada’s mandatory alcohol screening, which the OPP will now be implementing as part of every traffic stop. Frankly, it’s about time. This was passed as part of Bill C46 back in 2018. Ontario is, to be frank, a little bit late to the game on this. Alberta has been using it extensively for years. Other jurisdictions as well. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association says there are other ways to catch drunk drivers, like setting up more check stocks and questions the process of demanding a breath test without reasonable suspicion. But police point to an increase in impaired driving collisions and charges 30% more compared to the previous five year average. Impairment related collisions are seeing the highest increase in the GTA. There were 11,000 cases of impaired driving in the GTA last year, compared to 8800 cases five years ago. The breath test is quick. That’s it. We set a timer less than 10 seconds to get a reading for Carolyn Swinson, who lost both her father and son in separate impaired driving crashes and is now dedicated to helping other victims families. The solution would be drunk driving prevention technology as a standard feature in all new vehicles. Which will stop cars from starting. If somebody is driving in bed, that may be the, you know, the solution to stopping the number of people who choose to drink and drive. Until then, people have to be responsible. But unfortunately, there are many people who are not. Karen Lieberman, Global News.