2023-10-10 20:08:44
Quebec was quick to reject a coroner’s recommendation to lower the blood alcohol limit for motorists.
In a report made public on Tuesday, coroner Yvon Garneau recommends that the authorities carry out as soon as possible an analysis of the feasibility of lowering the blood alcohol limit for motorists from 0.08 mg/100 ml to 0. .05 mg/100 ml and to amend the Highway Safety Code accordingly.
He emphasizes in particular that Quebec is the only province in Canada “to be anachronistic with a limit of 0.08 mg per 100 ml of blood. However, there is evidence of a reduction in fatal accidents since the establishment of a limit lower than 0.05 elsewhere in Canada and around the world.
“A review is not envisaged”
In a brief email sent to The Canadian Press, the office of the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, however left no doubt about the fate that will be reserved for this recommendation: “A review of the alcohol limit allowed while driving is not envisaged by our government,” we write.
The recommendation to reduce this limit concluded Coroner Garneau’s report on the death of Stéphanie Houle, 46, who died in October 2021 in Drummondville while she was a passenger in a vehicle driven by an intoxicated individual.
The driver, Benoit Janvier, 38, had a blood alcohol level of approximately twice the legal limit. He had lost control of his vehicle which left the road followed by several rollovers before hitting a tree. He was then traveling at 128 km/h in a 50 km/h zone, according to the report.
Stéphanie Houle died instantly and Benoît Janvier, who survived, was sentenced last August to an exemplary sentence of four and a half years in penitentiary after admitting his guilt to charges of driving while impaired causing death and dangerous driving causing death. His sentence includes a ban on driving for five years after his release.
The role of witnesses
The coroner’s report also emphasizes that a friend of Benoit Janvier had told the police that he had witnessed, a few hours earlier, the latter’s consumption of strong drink and that, during a walk afterwards- noon in the city center, Benoit Janvier was going fast, drifting and “was on the brush”.
Coroner Garneau therefore also recommends that the ministry, the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) and the Éduc’alcool organization coordinate their efforts in order to implement awareness activities aimed at reminding the public of The importance of reporting to the police any drivers who are or appear to be impaired by alcohol or drugs.
Joined by The Canadian Press in Toronto, the director of legal affairs at MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), Eric Dumschat, also highlighted the fact that Quebec remains the only Canadian jurisdiction to tolerate a rate blood alcohol content of 0.08. Lowering it to 0.05 would be “an important road safety measure in terms of impaired driving,” he argued. “This could have a significant impact on driving culture in Quebec. »
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