Changes to the province’s Highway Traffic and Manitoba Public Insurance acts introduced by Attorney General Dave Chomiak would ensure those with criminal convictions for recently created street-racing and impaired driving offences face provincial sanctions as well.
“Drivers committing these serious offences, including driving over .08 causing death, already face penalties spelled out in the Criminal Code,” said Chomiak. “These changes would add new offences to the list of crimes that can trigger stiff sanctions the province can impose such as driver licensing restrictions and vehicle forfeitures. They would also help ensure that street racers aren’t awarded certain insurance benefits.”
Criminal Code changes created specific new charges in the area of impaired driving including:
• driving with over .08 per cent blood alcohol content causing bodily harm,
• refusing to provide a breathalyzer sample where the driver knew or ought to have known that he or she was involved in a collision causing bodily harm,
• driving over .08 causing death, and
• refusing to provide a breathalyzer sample where the driver knew or ought to have known that he or she was involved in a collision causing death.
The length of the provincial driver’s licence suspension would depend on the offence committed and the number of prior convictions. The recent Criminal Code impaired driving offences would be classified as the most serious, resulting in a five-year suspension for a first offence, a 10-year suspension for a second conviction and a lifetime suspension for a third conviction.
Vehicle forfeiture would also be possible for those crimes, even for a first offence. Forfeited vehicles would become the property of the province, which could then sell them and keep the proceeds.
The Criminal Code was also changed to add five offences related to street racing and the harm it can cause. By specifically including the offences to the Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation Act, certain no-fault accident benefits, for which those convicted of the street-racing offencesmight otherwise qualify, could be reduced. That would be consistent with how other driving offences are currently dealt with under the act.
Suspension and forfeiture provisions for street-racing offences have already been incorporated into the Highway Traffic Act.
