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B.C. appealing ruling that overturned drunk-driving prohibition

The Justice Ministry says it will appeal a B.C. Supreme Court decision that overturned a drunk-driving prohibition because a breathalyzer reading wasn’t enough evidence that a person’s driving was actually impaired.
Drunk driving roadblock generic
Police look for drunk drivers at a roadblock.

The Justice Ministry says it will appeal a B.C. Supreme Court decision that overturned a drunk-driving prohibition because a breathalyzer reading wasn’t enough evidence that a person’s driving was actually impaired.

The government’s Office of the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles said it has served notice it will appeal, but has yet to file the arguments in court and so won’t comment on why it disagrees with the ruling.

The Supreme Court judge in Kamloops ruled this month that simply blowing a warning reading on a breathalyzer — indicating a blood-alcohol level of between 0.05 and 0.08 — is not enough to justify a roadside penalty for impaired driving.

The ruling is the latest in a series of legal woes for the province’s drunk-driving law, which was passed in 2010 to allow for stiff administrative penalties against impaired drivers but which has been successfully challenged in court several times since.