So you’ve had a lot to drink and you’ve been pulled over by the cops. What happens now?
The Gazette asked K-Division traffic cop Sgt. Darrin Turnbull, and found out the answer was a lot of science.
How to spot an impaired driver
A 22-year veteran on the force, Turnbull said RCMP officers use their senses and science to spot those impaired by drugs and alcohol.
First, Turnbull said officers watch for signs of impaired driving, such as irregular speed or weaving between the lines. That gives the officer cause to pull you over for a closer look.
Next come physical clues: open beer cans, bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, or the smell of alcohol. Some drugs will inhibit dexterity or awareness, causing you to fumble with your license or sway when you get out of the car.
At this point, a cop who suspects you’re an impaired driver will often break out the roadside screening device and ask you to blow into it. This device is a less-accurate version of the bigger breathalyzer you might be asked to blow into at the station.
Turnbull said alcohol passes out of your blood and lungs when you exhale, and Henry’s Law states that at a given temperature that air will contain an amount of alcohol proportionate to what’s in your blood.
The breathalyzer measures the alcohol in your breath using infrared light (alcohol absorbs certain wavelengths, so you can judge concentration by tracking the amount of light absorbed) or a fuel cell (where alcohol reacts with platinum wires to create an electric current) and calculates this in terms of milligrams per 100 mL of blood, Turnbull said. The screening device also does this, but displays "pass" (under 50) "caution" (50 to 100), or "fail" (over 100) instead of the actual number.
If you blow a fail, you'll be brought to the station to have your blood-alcohol level measured on the breathalyzer, Turnbull said. If the breathalyzer finds you're over the legal limit of 80, you'll be charged with impaired driving, which means a 90-day license suspension, a three-day car seizure and, on conviction, a minimum $1,000 fine and a one-year driving suspension (unless you participate in the Interlock Ignition Program).
If you blow between 50 and 79, you’ll get a three-day suspension and seizure. If you have a graduated or learner’s license, you’ll earn a 30-day suspension and seven-day seizure if you have any alcohol in your system.
Turnbull said some officers are trained to use the standardized field sobriety test – a series of physical and mental tasks that look to expose symptoms caused by other drugs.
“Some categories of drugs will cause your eyes to jerk,” he said, so one test has an officer ask you to follow a pen with your eyes as they move it around. This lets officers look for erratic eye movements or huge pupils (a common side effect of cocaine).
Turnbull said cops might have you walk a straight line to test your co-ordination, or stand on one leg and count to 30 seconds (some drugs mess with your sense of time). If the evidence warrants it, police might take you to the station for another 12 tests, including a urine sample, to try and identify what drugs, if any, you are on.
Don’t drive impaired
Turnbull noted while there are legal limits for drugs and alcohol in a person, you could still be impaired even if you’re far below those limits.
“Everybody is different,” he said – a teen might be stumbling drunk after five beers but blow under 60, while an alcoholic might blow 200 and show no signs of impairment. Under the law, both could be charged with impaired driving.
The one sure way to avoid an impaired driving ticket this holiday season is to not drive after taking drugs or alcohol, Turnbull said. Arrange for a designated driver or a cab, or call Operation Red Nose.
“You need to make good decisions before you start drinking.”
Up to four Canadians die each day in drug and alcohol-related crashes, reports Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada.
“People die from impaired drivers,” Turnbull said, and he’s had to tell many families that one of their loved ones wasn’t coming home because of an impaired driver.
“You don’t want that any time of the year.”
