PERSONS CHARGED AND CONVICTED OF AN ALCOHOL OR DRUG-IMPAIRED DRIVING OFFENCE: CANADA, November 23, 2015

Transcription

1 PERSONS CHARGED AND CONVICTED OF AN ALCOHOL OR DRUG-IMPAIRED DRIVING OFFENCE: CANADA, November 23, 2015 R. Solomon, Professor A. Berger, Research Associate Faculty of Law, Western University

2 PERSONS CHARGED AND CONVICTED OF AN ALCOHOL OR DRUG-IMPAIRED DRIVING OFFENCE: CANADA, Total Alcohol and Drug-Impaired 1 Driving Offences 2 Number of Drivers Charged 3 Number of Drivers Convicted 4 (Fiscal ) ,824 N/D ,738 N/D ,260 N/D ,492 N/D ,048 N/D ,424 N/D ,040 N/D ,100 N/D ,726 N/D ,797 N/D ,030 N/D ,178 N/D ,722 N/D ,161 N/D ,917 N/D ,805 N/D ,531 N/D ,582 45,460 (94/95) ,085 43,655 (95/96) ,347 41,602 (96/97) ,307 40,004 (97/98) ,579 36,033 (98/99) ,143 33,921 (99/00) ,126 36,492 (00/01) ,986 37,602 (01/02) ,889 36,677 (02/03) ,236 33,778 (03/04) ,317 33,438 (04/05) ,538 34,359 (05/06) ,978 33,003 (06/07) ,826 35,160 (07/08) ,822 37,048 (08/09) ,338 40,035 (09/10) ,188 40,965 (10/11) ,164 35,643 (11/12) ,261 34,994 (12/13) ,107 30,343 (13/14) ,637 N/A N/A Not yet available N/D No data 1

3 Percentage PERCENTAGE OF DRIVERS CHARGED 3 WITH AN ALCOHOL OR DRUG-IMPAIRED 1 DRIVING OFFENCE 2 WHO ARE CONVICTED 4 : % 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

4 Number TOTAL PERSONS CHARGED AND CONVICTED OF AN ALCOHOL OR DRUG- IMPAIRED 1 DRIVING OFFENCE 2 : CANADA, ,000 80,000 Drivers Charged Drivers Convicted ,000 60,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,

5 ENDNOTES 1. While Canada first prohibited drug-impaired driving in 1925, the police were not given any specific means of collecting the evidence necessary for laying and prosecuting these cases until July 1, Prior to this date, the very small number of drug-related driving charges and convictions were not separately reported, but rather were included in the total impaired driving charges and convictions. As of July 1, 2008, Statistics Canada separately reported drug-related charges, but not convictions. Although total charges can be subdivided into alcohol and drug-related charges after this date, it is not possible to subdivide the total convictions. We have decided not to separately report drug-impaired driving charges in this document, because there is no corresponding conviction data. Rather, the drug-impaired driving charges are set out by offence and jurisdiction in a separate document: R. Solomon, A. Berger & M. Clarizio, Drug- Impaired Driving Charges: Canada, (Oakville, Ont.: Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada, 2015). 2. Until the 1985 Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46 amendments, these offences included: driving while one s ability was impaired by alcohol or drugs; driving with a blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) in excess of.08%; and failing or refusing, without a reasonable excuse, to provide a breath sample. After 1985, the offences of failing to provide a blood sample, impaired driving causing death, and impaired driving causing bodily harm were added to the Criminal Code impaired driving offences. As of July 1, 2008, three new sets of impaired driving offences were added to the Criminal Code. First, it was made a criminal offence to fail or refuse to submit, without a reasonable excuse, to a required physical coordination test (i.e. Standard Field Sobriety Test or SFST) or to a drug evaluation (i.e. Drug Recognition Evaluation or DRE). These offences are subject to the same penalties as the pre-existing offence of failing or refusing, without a reasonable excuse, to take a breath or blood test. The second set of offences entailed driving with a BAC above.08% and causing a crash involving death, and driving with a BAC above.08% and causing a crash involving bodily harm. These offences do not require proof that the crash was caused by the accused s illegal BAC or impairment. The third set of offences entailed failing or refusing to submit to a required breath or blood test, SFST or DRE, without a reasonable excuse, when one knows or ought to know that he or she caused a crash involving death or bodily harm. The second and third sets of offences are subject to the same penalties as the pre-existing offences of impaired driving causing death and impaired driving causing bodily harm. 3. The charge data are reported by calendar year and include both adults and youth. As well, the charge data include cases involving not only motor vehicles, but also vessels and aircraft. For charges from 1977 to 1997, see Statistics Canada, CANSIM Table , Adult and youth charged, by detailed offences, annual (number unless otherwise noted), terminated 1997, (Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 1997). For charge data from 1998 onwards, see Statistics Canada, CANSIM Table , Incident-based crime statistics, by detailed violations, annual (number) (Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 2015). 4. Conviction data are reported by fiscal year, and include adults and youth. As well, the conviction data include offences involving not only motor vehicles, but also vessels and aircraft. The conviction data from 1994/95 to 2004/05 appear to include cases heard in both adult and youth court, but only for AB, NL, NS, ON, PE, QC, SK, and YK. See Statistics Canada, CANSIM Table , Adult criminal court survey, number of guilty cases, by type of sentence,*terminated* (number) annual (Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 2011). The conviction data for 2005/06 onwards is based on Statistics Canada, Table , Adult criminal courts, number of cases and charges by decision annual (number) (Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 2015) and Table , Youth courts, number of cases and charges by type of decision (Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 2015). The conviction total in the chart for 2005/06 onwards is based on the sum of the adult and youth convictions. As of 2005/06, provincial and territorial courts in all 10 provinces and 3 territories reported to the adult court survey. However, for some unexplained reason, the Superior Courts in PE, QC, ON, MN, and SK did not report. In addition, for equally unexplained reasons, conviction data from QC s Municipal Courts, which account for approximately 25% of the province s Criminal Code charges, was not collected. It is difficult to determine the extent to which the number of impaired driving convictions is underestimated due to the failure of these Superior and Municipal Courts to report. 4