New Brunswick is implementing stricter penalties for impaired drivers starting January 1st, 2024. The new Motor Vehicle Act allows police to issue roadside suspensions or lay criminal charges, streamlining the process and reducing court backlog.
FREDERICTON — Motorists caught in New Brunswick for driving while impaired will face additional immediate consequences under new penalties that take effect Jan. 1. Changes to the province’s Motor Vehicle Act give police discretion to issue a roadside suspension or lay criminal charges. Previously, police could only lay criminal charges, sending drivers through a lengthy process in the province’s clogged court system.
'It streamlines the process, so it will help reduce the caseload inside the court system,' said Cpl. Matthew Leblanc-Smith, a spokesman for New Brunswick RCMP. Leblanc-Smith said the new rules impose immediate sanctions on some drivers — without giving them a criminal record. As well, he said, the changes allow the more serious offenders to be sent into the criminal justice system. 'I don’t know if (the changes are) going to work better as a deterrent, but it will give police more options and better tools,' he said. Under the new rules, drivers with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or above, or who refuse to give a breath sample, will get an immediate three-month licence suspension. The existing rules permit officers to seize vehicles, but starting Jan. 1 drivers caught with 0.08 or higher will have their vehicles immediately impounded for at least 30 days. As well, they will have to equip their car for 12 months with an interlock device, which includes a mouthpiece into which a driver must blow. If alcohol is detected on the breath sample, the engine won't start. Drivers with a blood alcohol level between 0.05 and 0.08 will get an immediate seven-day licence suspension and have their vehicle impounded for at least three days. In addition, drivers will have to take a safety course and pay various fines and fees. Meanwhile, police will be required to lay criminal charges for cases in which impaired drivers are caught with a passenger under the age of 16, or in instances where there is bodily harm or death caused by a cras
IMPAIRED DRIVING PENALTIES ROADSIDE SUSPENSION CRIMINAL CHARGES NEW BRUNSWICK
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