As a regular reader of our criminal law blog, you know that if Canadian police catch you driving with a blood alcohol content (BAC) level exceeding 0.08%, they can charge you with criminal DUI. However, what happens if police pull you over after you’ve had a few drinks and feel a bit tipsy but don’t exceed the 0.08% BAC threshold?
If you answer something like “get an official warning that includes an administrative license suspension and monetary fine,” give yourself a pat on the back. While the federal government established a national 0.08% limit for criminal DUI, provinces and territories have established lower BAC “warn range” limits that lead to administrative penalties for drivers who exceed them.
The Greater Toronto Area criminal defence DUI lawyers of Mass Tsang will advise you that you may not want to lawyer up to fight a first-time “warn range” impaired driving charge. It’s not a criminal charge, and by the time your case is addressed by the courts, your license suspension term will likely be over. At most, you may be able to avoid the fine and exclude the offence from your driving record. You may want to lawyer up to fight second and subsequent warn range citations to avoid the supplementary penalties that they include.
While not nearly as severe as the penalties that come with a criminal DUI conviction , warn-range administrative penalties are still aggravating, to say the least. So, let’s take a closer look at warn-range impaired driving.
Provincial law allows Ontario police to issue a warn-range impaired driving citation to any driver with a BAC between 0.05%-0.079% or a driver who fails a field sobriety test. The BAC reading can come from an approved roadside screening device (ARSD) or a police station-based breathalyzer machine. If cited due to a failed field sobriety test, the officer likely believed that the driver exhibited some impairment, but perhaps not enough to secure a criminal DUI conviction. We would also assume that the officer did not have an ARSD in their possession.
A first-time warn range citation results in an immediate three-day driver’s license suspension and a $250 fine. This is aggravating enough on its own but consider that this also means three days of securing alternative transportation, and an additional $281 license reinstatement fee. Additionally, the driver may have to pay for vehicle towing depending on where police stopped them and if no one else can drive the car.
Drivers who receive a second warn-range citation within five years of their first are subject to an immediate seven-day driver’s license suspension, a $350 fine, and mandatory enrollment in Ontario’s Back on Track substance abuse educational or treatment program. A third and subsequent warn range citation within five years comes with an immediate 30-day driver’s license suspension, a $450 fine, mandatory substance abuse treatment or educational program enrollment, and mandatory ignition interlock program participation upon license reinstatement. The additional costs include a $344 fee for Back on Track, up to $1,000 in ignition interlock fees, and the $281 license reinstatement fee.
Commercial, young, and novice drivers caught driving with any amount of alcohol and/or drugs in their systems, but below criminal DUI impairment thresholds, are penalized like drivers who receive warning range penalties. As with the warn range, these are provincial citations, not federal criminal charges. All such drivers face the same administrative penalties as included with a warn range citation. However, young and novice drivers face additional licence suspension terms of up to 90 days and up to $1,000 in additional fines if convicted in court.
The penalties that come with a zero-tolerance conviction are not as harsh as they are for a criminal DUI. However, it may still be worth challenging a zero-tolerance citation in court. Skilled Ontario DUI lawyers are highly adept at strategizing a defence that can avoid a conviction or limit the fines and suspension terms.
Ontario police are not required to issue a warn range impaired driving citation to drivers who fall within the BAC warn range threshold. In fact, an officer can give such drivers a verbal warning about impaired driving and let them proceed on their way. Thus, anytime you’re interacting with police in relation to impaired driving, you should always be polite and respectful. Given their discretion in issuing warn-range citations, you may be able to get away with a verbal warning if you’re not visibly impaired and interact courteously with the officer. Police officers are human, so if you give them attitude, they are more likely to penalize you to the highest extent allowed under the law.
All provinces have established warn range BAC levels and penalties for being caught driving within the range. Most provinces use the 0.05%-0.079% BAC levels for their warn range levels, though Saskatchewan’s starts at 0.04%. Quebec and the Yukon territory use 0.08% as the warn range threshold. Given that this is also the threshold for criminal DUI, we assume that they use this threshold to penalize suspected impaired drivers even if they are not ultimately convicted of DUI in court. Provincial and territorial warn range license suspensions range from 24 hours to seven days for a first-time citation. And most include fines, as well as additional penalties for repeated warn range offences.
While there’s not much we can do for you if Ontario Police have issued you a warn range citation, if you’re otherwise facing criminal DUI-related charges, the DUI lawyers of Mass Tsang have a decades-long record of successfully defending Greater Toronto Area drivers charged with DUI. To learn how we can help secure a favourable outcome for your DUI charges, contact us today for a free consultation.
