First Session, 48th

General Assembly

66 Elizabeth II,

BILL 68

AN ACT TO AMEND THE HIGHWAY

TRAFFIC ACT NO. 5

Received

and Read the First Time ................................................................

Second

Reading ............................................................................................

Committee .....................................................................................................

Third

Reading ...............................................................................................

Royal

Assent .................................................................................................

HONOURABLE PERRY

TRIMPER

Minister of Service

Newfoundland and Labrador

Ordered to be printed by

the Honourable House of Assembly

EXPLANATORY NOTES

This Bill would amend the Highway Traffic Act to

reduce the permissible proportion

of alcohol in the blood of a person who is under 22 years of age and not a

novice driver while he or she is operating a motor vehicle or has care or control

of a motor vehicle to 0 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood;

introduce the mandatory use of

an ignition interlock device on the reinstatement of a driver's licence or

driving privileges of a person who has been convicted of impaired driving offences

under the Criminal Code ; and

add regulation making authority

to enable the seizure and impoundment of a motor vehicle where a person is

impaired or fails or refuses to comply with a demand by a peace officer.

A BILL

AN ACT TO AMEND THE

HIGHWAY TRAFFIC ACT NO. 5

Analysis

S.60.01 Amdt.

Request for surrender of driver's licence at roadside

S.60.03 R&S

Periods of suspension

S.60.04 Amdt.

Periods of suspension

S.73.1 Added

Mandatory use of ignition interlock device

S.186 Amdt.

Regulations

Transitional

7. Commencement

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and

House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

RSNL1990 cH-3

as amended

(1) Paragraph 60.01(2)(

a) of the Highway Traffic Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

(

a) a driver or person who has care or control of

a motor vehicle who is 22 years of age or older and not a novice driver is 50 milligrams

or more of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood;

(2) Subsection 60.01(2) of the Act is amended by

adding immediately after paragraph (

a) the following:

(a.1) a driver or person who has care or control of

a motor vehicle who is under 22 years of age and not a novice driver is 0

milligrams or more of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood; and

Section 60.03 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Periods of suspension

60.03

(1) Upon

a request being made under subsection 60.01(1) or (5) or

section 60.1, whether

or not the driver or person who has care or control of a motor vehicle

surrenders his or her drivers licence to the peace officer, his or her

drivers licence or driving privileges are suspended

(

a) for a period of 7 days from the time the request

is made, where he or she is 22 years of age or older and not a novice driver and

he or she fails or refuses to provide a sample of his or her breath or where

the analysis under subsection 60.01(1) or (5) indicates that the proportion of

alcohol in his or her blood is 50 milligrams or more of alcohol in 100 millilitres

of blood;

(

b) for a period of 7 days from the time the request

is made, where he or she is under 22 years of age and not a novice driver and he

or she fails or refuses to provide a sample of his or her breath or where the

analysis under subsection 60.01(1) or (5) indicates that the proportion of

alcohol in his or her blood is greater than 0 milligrams of alcohol in 100

millilitres of blood; and

(

c) for a period of 90 days commencing on the

fourteenth day after the expiration of the 7 day suspension, where he or she

fails or refuses to provide a sample of his or her breath or where the analysis

under subsection 60.01(1) or (5) indicates that the proportion of alcohol in

his or her blood is 80 milligrams or more of alcohol in 100 millilitres of

blood.

(2) Upon a request being made under subsection

60.01(7) or

section 60.02 whether or not the driver or person who has care or

control of a motor vehicle surrenders his or her driver's licence to the peace

officer, his or her driver's licence or driving privileges are suspended

(

a) for a period of 7 days from the time the request

is made where the peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the ability

of the driver or person who has care or control of a motor vehicle is impaired

by a drug, or a combination of a drug and alcohol, or where he or she fails or

refuses to comply with a demand under

section 254 of the Criminal Code ; and

(

b) for a period of 90 days beginning on the fourteenth

day after the expiry of the 7 day suspension, where he or she fails or refuses

to comply with a demand made on him or her under

section 254 of the Criminal Code .

(3) Upon a request being made under subsection

60.01(1), (5) or (7) or

section 60.02, whether or not the novice driver or the

novice driver who has care or control of a motor vehicle surrenders his or her

drivers licence to the peace officer, his or her drivers licence or driving

privileges shall be considered to be suspended by the registrar for a period of

(a) 2 months for the first occasion upon which a

request is made under subsection 60.01(1), (5) or (7) or

section 60.02;

(b) 4 months for the second occasion upon which a

request is made under subsection 60.01(1), (5) or (7) or

section 60.02; and

(c) 6 months for a subsequent occasion upon which

a request is made under subsection 60.01(1), (5) or (7) or

section 60.02

and, following the expiry of a suspension

under paragraphs (a), (

b) or (c), he or she may apply to the registrar to have

his or her drivers licence reinstated commencing at the start of the level and

class of drivers licence held by him or her at the time when his or her licence

was suspended subject to a fee and in accordance with conditions and

requirements which the registrar may impose upon the licence.

(4) Notwithstanding subsection (3), where a novice

driver or novice driver who has care or control of a motor vehicle fails or

refuses to provide a sample of his or her breath or the analysis under

subsection 60.01(1) or (5) indicates that the proportion of alcohol in his or

her blood is 80 milligrams or more of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, his

or her licence or driving privileges shall be suspended by the registrar for a

minimum period of 90 days and the procedure for reinstatement set out in

subsection (3) applies.

(5) Notwithstanding subsection (3), upon a request

being made under

section 60.02, whether or not the novice driver or novice

driver who has care or control of the motor vehicle surrenders his or her

driver's licence to the peace officer, his or her driver's licence or driving

privileges shall be suspended by the registrar for a period of 90 days where he

or she fails or refuses to comply with a demand made under

section 254 of the Criminal Code , and the procedure for reinstatement

set out in subsection (3) applies.

(1) Paragraph 60.04(1)(

a) of the Act is

repealed and the following substituted:

(

a) a driver or a person who has care or control

of a motor vehicle who is 22 years of age or older and not a novice driver provides

a sample of his or her blood which on analysis indicates that the proportion of

alcohol in his or her blood at the time the sample was given was 50 milligrams

or more of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, his or her drivers licence or

driving privileges are suspended for a period of 7 days beginning on the

fourteenth day following his or her receipt of a copy of the certificate of

analysis;

(2) Subsection 60.04(1) of the Act is amended by

adding immediately after paragraph (

a) the following:

(a.1) a driver or a person who has care or control

of a motor vehicle who is under 22 years of age and not a novice driver provides

a sample of his or her blood which on analysis indicates that the proportion of

alcohol in his or her blood at the time the sample was given was greater than 0

milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, his or her drivers licence

or driving privileges are suspended for a period of 7 days beginning on the

fourteenth day following his or her receipt of a copy of the certificate of

analysis; and

(3) Subsections 60.04(5) and (6) of the Act are

repealed and the following substituted:

(5) Where under

section 60.01, 60.02 or 60.1 a

drivers licence or driving privileges are suspended, the peace officer who requested

the surrender of the drivers licence shall

(

a) keep a record of the drivers licence or driving

privileges suspended with the name and address of the driver, novice driver or

person or novice driver who has care or control of the motor vehicle;

(

b) provide the driver, novice driver or person or

novice driver who has care or control of the motor vehicle whose driving

privileges are suspended with a notice which shall include the time from which

the suspension takes effect, the length of the period during which his or her

drivers licence is suspended, if known, and shall indicate that the registrar

shall inform the novice driver or novice driver who has care or control of the

motor vehicle of when he or she may apply for a drivers licence and that

notice shall, where the driver, novice driver or person or novice driver who

has care or control of the motor vehicle surrenders his or her drivers licence,

constitute a receipt of that drivers licence; and

(

c) notify the registrar of the suspension of the

drivers licence or driving privileges.

(6) Upon the termination of a 7 day suspension

under

section 60.03 or this section, the drivers licence shall, if it was

surrendered to a peace officer, be returned to the licensee at the address

shown on the drivers licence or to another address requested by the licensee.

4. The Act is amended by adding immediately after

section 73 the following:

Mandatory use of

ignition interlock device

73.1

(1) Where

a person is convicted of an offence under

section 253, 254 or 255 of the Criminal Code and his or her driver's

licence or driving privileges have been suspended or cancelled under

section 65,

the registrar shall require the use of an ignition interlock device in accordance

with the regulations made under

section 186 as a condition of reinstatement of

the driver's licence or driving privileges for a period of

(a) 12 months in the case of a first conviction;

(b) 36 months in the case of a second conviction

entered within 10 years of the first conviction; and

(c) 60 months in the case of a third or subsequent

conviction entered within 10 years of the first conviction.

(2) The period referred to in subsection (1) shall

start on the reinstatement of the driver's licence or driving privileges after

the period of suspension or cancellation of the drivers licence or driving

privileges expires.

(3) Where the registrar reinstates a driver's

licence or driving privileges subject to the condition that an ignition

interlock device is used before the period of suspension or cancellation

expires, the period under subsection (1) shall start after the period of

suspension or cancellation of the drivers licence or driving privileges would

have expired if that person's driver's licence or driving privileges had not

been reinstated.

5. (1) Subsection 186(1) of the Act is

amended by adding immediately after paragraph (i.1) the following:

(i.2) providing for the seizure and impoundment of

motor vehicles by a peace officer where the proportion of alcohol in the blood

of a driver or person who has care or control of the motor vehicle meets or exceeds

the prohibited proportion or the driver or person who has care or control of

the motor vehicle fails or refuses to comply with a demand of a peace officer

under

section 254 of the Criminal Code ,

and in particular,

(

i) prescribing the proportion of alcohol in the

blood that is prohibited while operating or having care or control of a vehicle,

(ii) requiring that a notice of seizure be given to

the driver and sent to the registrar and the owner of the vehicle, and

prescribing the timing and form of this notice,

(iii) prescribing the period of impoundment,

(iv) prescribing the circumstances under which an

owner may apply for the early release of a vehicle,

(

v) providing for an appeal of a decision on an

application for early release of a vehicle,

(vi) prescribing the fees to be paid in relation to

the impoundment and release of the vehicle, and

(vii) prescribing the types of fees and charges that

shall be a lien on the impounded vehicle, the priority of those liens and how

those liens may be enforced, including the sale or other disposal of the

vehicle by the garage operator who takes and stores the seized and impounded

vehicle or by the registrar, which sale or other disposal may vary according to

the value of the vehicle; and

(2) Paragraph 186(1)(

j) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

(

j) respecting the mandatory use of an ignition

interlock device under

section 73.1 and providing for the establishment of an

ignition interlock program in one or more designated parts of the province

allowing persons whose driver's licence or driving privileges have been

suspended to apply for reinstatement under prescribed conditions including the

use of an ignition interlock device, including

(

i) approving ignition interlock devices,

(ii) prescribing standards and duties with respect

to the installation, operation and maintenance of approved ignition interlock devices,

(iii) providing for the payment of expenses and fees

respecting the installation, use, maintenance and removal of ignition interlock

devices,

(iv) providing a method to determine whether an

approved ignition interlock device is in place in a vehicle where it is required

and whether it is working,

(

v) extending the period during which an ignition

interlock device shall be used,

(vi) providing penalties for a person who drives a

motor vehicle that is not equipped with an approved ignition interlock device

while prohibited from doing so,

(vii) providing penalties for tampering with or

removing an ignition interlock device,

(viii) providing penalties for assisting a person

with the improper use of an ignition interlock device, and

(ix) prescribing criteria for eligibility in the

ignition interlock program and for the removal of an ignition interlock device

once installed.

Transitional

6. Where a person was convicted of an offence

under

section 253, 254 or 255 of the Criminal

Code before the coming into force of this Act, the registrar shall not

require the use of an ignition interlock device as a condition of reinstatement

of a driver's licence or driving privileges as though this Act were not in

force.

Commencement

7. This

Act comes into force 6 months after the day on which it receives Royal Assent.

Queen's Printer