Please watch this video and pass it along. After watching this for the first time, I felt nauseous - so many lives have been destroyed by impaired driving. STAY SAFE.
WARNING: Graphic Images, Drug and Alcohol Use.
Archive for the ‘Impaired Driving’ Category
The Consequences of Drinking and Driving
Monday, May 10th, 2010Steering Wheels that Sense Alcohol Consumption
Monday, March 1st, 2010Life is starting to mirror the Jetson’s more and more. But maybe that’s not a bad thing. I came across this article today, after hearing speculation of such advanced technology for the past few years. It looks as if a Canadian company is going to attempt to market steering wheels that monitor alcohol directly, making traditional breathalyzer units quickly outdated. Please read the content of the article below, or click here to visit the actual link.
A Canadian company, Sober Steering Sensors, is working on technology that makes use of chemical sensors built into steering wheels to detect the gas byproducts of alcohol through the skin of drivers. This transdermal technology, developed in conjunction with California-based Seacoast Science, has been garnering interest.
Sober Steering recently received $1.5 Million from the Ontario government’s Innovation Demonstration Fund to produce prototypes and test them later this year in about 200 fleet vehicles, such as transport trucks and buses.
Ignition interlock systems require drivers to blow into a breathalyzer before starting the car. If the breath test system registers alcohol above the legal limit, the vehicle will not start. Interlock devices have been criticized because they also require drivers to blow into the device after driving for a period of time, so drivers must be able to safely pull over and repeat the test when the machine tells them to. On the other hand, if drivers are tested through the steering wheel, all that would be needed when periodic re-testing is required is to keep their hands on the wheel.
Ignition interlock systems are also expensive, costing up to approximately $2,000 per vehicle, as opposed to an estimated $200 for the Sober Steering solution. Stay tuned for more information on this technology.
If this technology works properly, the impact that this device will have on impaired driving, and DUI convictions will be tremendous. The current breathalyzer, that essentially “locks down” a vehicle until a sufficient breath alcohol sample is given has several flaws that this technology looks to correct. The first is that a driver could have anyone blow into the unit for them to start the vehicle, the second, is that typically the unit has no way to detect if a person is drinking while they are driving. This could mean that the driver would initially be able to pass the breath test to start their ignition, but if they started drinking a beer while driving, they would still be impaired and easily have found a “short cut” to their sober driving limitations.
I hope that this technology is embraced and that the cost is reduced to make this an affordable solution. The less drunk drivers on the road is a better situation for us all. The only question that I am left to ponder is . . . . what happens if you are wearing gloves?
Merry Christmas from SureHire
Friday, December 18th, 2009I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas this holiday season.
Party season is in full swing and I know that everyone has been told before, but drinking and driving do not mix. There is always an alternative. As an employer, if you have alcohol at work related functions, be sure you practise due diligence. Employers can potentially face civil liability when hosting, organizing or sponsoring events that involve alcohol.
I have mentioned this topic earlier in a newsletter, but with the information as important as it is, I want to re-iterate it here.
Provider Liability
Provider liability occurs when those who provide, serve or make alcohol available to a person who they know or should know is already intoxicated. Provider liability does not prevent individuals from being hosts and serving alcohol. The case of Jacobsen vs. Nike Canada Ltd. is one example of legal precedent that has been established in court.
Supervisors purchased and consumed dinner, soft drinks and 36 beers with Nike employees towards the end of a 16 hour workday. The plaintiff, a 19 year old, consumed at least eight beers during this time in which he would have been displaying obvious signs of intoxication.
After leaving work, he went to a bar where he consumed at least three more drinks before falling asleep while driving home. His accident left him a quadriplegic. While the plaintiff acknowledged his own negligence, the court found Nike Canada liable for 75% of damages for two reasons:
1. Nike, as an alcohol provider, had a duty to monitor its employees’ consumption and take steps to prevent them from driving when they knew, or should have known that their employees were likely impaired. This is the same standard applied to a licensed commercial establishment.
2. Nike had a duty to maintain a safe workplace. Nike required workers to bring their cars to work and knew they would be driving home. In effect, drinking and driving was made part of the working conditions that day.
Be safe and enjoy this holiday season. If you would like more information about employer liability feel free to call SureHire at 1-866-944-HIRE (4473). If you would like to read the entire Christmas newsletter for SureHire, that discusses employer liability: SureNews: Alcohol Liability Issue
If I don’t get another blog out before January, Happy New Years and all the best in 2010 to all the readers!
Random Breathalyzer Tests Considered for Canada
Monday, November 2nd, 2009I came across this story a couple of weeks ago, and have found myself considering the possibilities more and more. Since the story broke, the debate over this topic can been overwhelming. Below is the original story found on CBC news. You can view the original link here. I would love to hear everyone’s thoughts on such a controversial matter. I for one think that implementing random alcohol testing is a good idea. I am for any positive legislation that creates safer roads. To even consider such legislation is a step in the right direction.
The federal justice minister is considering a new law that would allow police to conduct random breathalyzer tests on drivers, regardless of whether they suspect motorists have been drinking.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving says the federal government is considering adopting random breathalyzer testing, following the June 2009 recommendation of a House of Commons justice committee. (CBC)
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson raised the prospect recently at a meeting of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, according to MADD chief executive Andrew Murie.
If random testing were to be adopted, it would be a major change to Canada’s 40-year-old breathalyzer legislation, which stipulates that police may only administer a test if they suspect a driver has been drinking.
In June, a House of Commons parliamentary committee recommended changing the legislation to allow for random testing, arguing it is an effective deterrent.
The change would also bring Canada in line with a number of other countries in Europe and countries like Australia, which have adopted similar measures.
Murie said its biggest selling point is that it improves road safety, with drunk driving fatalities dropping 36 per cent in Australia after legislation was introduced, and 23 per cent in Ireland when it made the change.
Tests could infringe on civil liberties
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson introduced legislation in 2008 that compelled drivers stopped by police to take a roadside test, such as walking a straight line. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
“In the European Union, they demand that their countries, as part of membership for road safety, have sophisticated random breath testing because of the difference it’s made in lives saved,” he told CBC News.
Murie said the change would allow police at roadblocks to conduct about three times as many breathalyzer tests because they would not need to spend time determining whether there is “reasonable” suspicion a driver has been drinking.
The issue for civil libertarians, however, is that changing the law to allow random testing would be a violation of a person’s right to protection against unreasonable search and seizure.
“It has no real place in a democratic society,” said Richard Rosenberg of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association.
“Giving police power to act on a whim is not something we want in an open democratic society.”
Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh, the former attorney general of British Columbia and a member of the House justice committee, said the question of whether any legislation would be allowable under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms would come down to implementation.
Constraints on police power needed: MP
“It remains to be seen what the actual legislation is when the minister brings it forward because we want to make sure that it’s appropriately constrained and it’s not too much of an infringement on civil liberties,” Dosanjh told CBC News.
Dosanjh said the charter does allow for constraints on rights when they are deemed reasonable, but said he would need to see how those constraints are implemented before judging any future legislation.
“For instance… I wouldn’t want the east side of Vancouver monitored more than the west side of Vancouver because there is a clear economic division in the city,” he said.
“We want to make sure that areas are not unnecessarily excessively focused on and that’s why I think that we need to make sure that the legislation is properly drafted with appropriate constraints and guidelines for the police,” he said.
But Dosanjh pointed out that driving is not a right itself, but rather a privilege subject to licences given by government authorities.
Nicholson could not be reached for comment.
Canadian Political Drug Scandal
Monday, September 28th, 2009Former Edmonton-Strathcona MP (and husband of current conservative cabinet minister, Helena Guergis) Rahim Jaffer, has just been charged with drunk driving and possession of cocaine.
Ontario police stopped 37-year-old, Jaffer on Sept. 11 on Regional Road 50 in Palgrave, Ontario because he was speeding through the village. “When the officer approached the car, she smelled the odour of alcohol and demanded a roadside screening test, which [Mr. Jaffer] failed,” said Caledon OPP Sergeant Mike Garant. “He was arrested and searched, and that’s when the alleged cocaine was found on his person.” Mr. Jaffer was taken to the Caledon OPP office where he provided two more breath samples, which registered more than 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of blood, said Sgt. Garant. After spending about four hours in police custody — part of which was spent in a jail cell while police processed his case — Mr. Jaffer was released. His license was suspended for 90 days.
Jaffer became the first Muslim to be elected to the House of Commons when he won the Edmonton-Strathcona seat at the age of 25 in 1997. He held the riding until last year’s federal election, when he lost to NDP rival Linda Duncan.
Days before the vote, Jaffer’s campaign approved radio ads chiding NDP Leader Jack Layton for comments years earlier that Jaffer cast as broad support for marijuana use.
The spots said, in part: “Edmontonians understand how difficult it is to make sure our children make the right choices, especially on serious issues like drug use. The Conservative Party supports drug-free schools and getting tough with drug dealers who sell illegal drugs to children. Don’t let our schools go up in smoke. On Oct. 14 vote Conservative.”
I find it extremely disheartening that a public figure known for his anti-drug stance has received drug charges for cocaine possession. The only real lesson that I can take from this story is a reminder that drug use and abuse is not just a blue collar, low income problem. Employers in white collar jobs also need to be aware that drug abuse is a significant problem, and can have substantial consequences within the company.
Drug abuse in the workplace results in:
- 5 times more Workers Compensation claims
- 30% greater employee turnover
- 40 versus 4 days of employee absenteeism
- 36 times higher employee theft
- 300 - 400% more health care benefit utilization
- A greater chance of workplace violence (66% of those arrested in such incidences test positive)
National Institute on Drug Abuse
As someone in the public eye, Mr. Jaffer should have taken extra measures to abstain from illegal activities. I am in no way condoning drug use or impaired driving for the average citizen, but people in the public eye do have a greater responsibility to be a role model to the public. Mr. Jaffer will now serve as reminder to me of the costs associated with drug use. I’m certain that criminal charges and a tarnished political career are just the tip of the iceberg.
What are your thoughts?