Quebec coroner calls for tougher drunk driving penalties in line with rest of country

The Canadian Press

· Posted: Apr 22, 2025 4:11 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

A Quebec coroner says that if the province's penalties for drunk driving had been successful enactment with the remainder of the country, a operator who slammed into a motorcyclist successful 2020 would not person been connected the roadworthy erstwhile the fatal mishap occurred.

Coroner Geneviève Thériault says the antheral who was down the instrumentality had been pulled implicit by Quebec provincial constabulary for driving erratically little than an hr earlier the head-on collision.

Officers had him stroke into a trial that recovered the level of intoxicant successful his humor was betwixt 50 and 99 milligrams of intoxicant per 100 millimetres of blood, but it could not corroborate whether helium was supra the Criminal Code's ineligible bounds of 80 milligrams per 100 millimetres of blood.

Provincial constabulary accidental that breathalyzer results successful the grey portion betwixt 50 and 99 indispensable beryllium accompanied by different signs of evident impairment to marque an arrest, and successful this lawsuit they were not sufficient.

The coroner's study released Tuesday says constabulary told the man he could beryllium implicit the ineligible bounds and urged him to telephone a person oregon hold a fewer hours earlier getting backmost connected the road.

Fifty-two minutes later, the clang took spot connected a provincial road astir 50 kilometres from wherever helium had been stopped, with 64-year-old Bernard D'Aragon, an experienced motorcyclist, killed connected impact.

Quebec is the lone state that has not gone further than the Criminal Code and established a ineligible intoxicant bounds of 50 milligrams per 100 millimetres of humor oregon little — aft which drivers tin person their licences revoked oregon look different sanctions.

Among the coroner's recommendations for the province's automobile security committee and the Transport Ministry is to amend the province's Highway Safety Code to guarantee administrative penalties are imposed connected drivers with a blood-alcohol attraction of 50 milligrams per 100 millimetres oregon higher.