AHS Views

I’m in Ontario, Canada visiting family and friends for the holidays. Boy, they really take drinking and driving seriously here. They have a program called Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere – R.I.D.E. Teams of police are assigned to spot check drivers and if the driver says they’ve been drinking, AT ALL, or if the police can smell alcohol, you do a breathalizer. If you blow above the legal limit (recently reduced so it’s the same as the U.S.), you’re taken away – I’m not sure to where since I don’t know if Canada has drug courts where someone can get addiction help or if they just go to jail, etc.

What’s different about this program? First – it’s a spot check. You don’t have to have done anything suspicious to be stopped. Second – if you’ve been drinking AT ALL, even though you’re within the legal limit, they can still take your keys and your car for 24 hours.

I think the actual R.I.D.E. program is officially over, but the actions taken to prevent drunk driving continue – and the DUI laws are getting even tougher, especially on those who are ‘nearly’ at the legal limit.

Sound steep? I’m sure the hundreds of thousands of people and their families who were injured or killed in DUI-related accidents would say ‘absolutely not.’ I would tend to agree. Better safe than sorry. And I’m sure this must lead to a lot of people availing themselves of addiction help services instead of drinking and driving and getting a stint in the slammer. Nothing works like zero tolerance.

And if it wasn’t meant to be, why did God invent taxis and designated drivers?