Canada considering allowing random breathalyzer tests.

[CFH]

If this comes to fruition, police will be allowed to randomly test drivers, regardless of whether they are under suspicion of driving under the influence (as is the requirement for such testing right now).

I'm of two minds on this subject. First of all, I abhor drunk-driving and I think it should be subject to very strict punishment, particularly if it causes any damage to person or property. However, I do not like this as it is a blatant infringement on civil liberties and, as it says in the article, a "...violation of a person's right to protection against unreasonable search and seizure...".

I'm just curious to hear people thoughts on this, especially you American and Europeans. Apparently this practice is fairly common in Europe...

Random breathalyzer tests considered for Canada - News - MSN CA

[amat]

FUCK THAT! No fcking way! Yeah, just let cops do aaannnyyytthhiinng. WTF is this shit? No I would be against this this is a HUGE issue imo. A blatant violation of someone's personal privacy. No way, if a cop can't suspect you are drunk (which he only halfway has to do anyways) and you are so drunk that you are going to cause harm to other people on the roadways, then that cop is a dumbass. I would be so pissed if I rolled a stop sign and I got a fcking breathalyzer for it. I would probably get taken in for disorderly conduct at that point.

[Dizaster]

LOL funny that you guys are going off about this when it is the norm here..... I read once that with police speed camera/laser in America, and police car has to actually observe and suspect/judge that a car is possibly speeding before actually measuring there speed. Not sure if that is true, but here they are allowed to just point it in the direction of oncoming traffic and catch anyone speeding...... It's hard to think of this as impinging on our civil liberties (i.e. right to not have our speed measured unless we are suspected of speeding) as it's just the norm here...

Police are also allowed to pull you over for no reason at all.. I was pulled over a number of times when I was younger for which reason I maintain was that I was wearing a beanie.. Once at a set of lights, I had a police car parked 5 cars up from me in another lane.. His eyes met mine in his rear veiw mirror, and when the lights went green, sat there holding up traffic until I went past so that he could pull me over...

THAT is bullshit and was discrimination...

But our police mandatorily breathalize (and now drug test) every single person they pull over. They also have "Booze Busses" which are parked on the side of the road and wave people to the side of the road randomly to be tested....

It's one of those things that's like, if you're not doing the wrong thing, you shouldn't be worried about it....

Which also leads into the whole, video cameras everywhere on our streets... Do you feel it's an invasion of your privacy, or a saviour incase anything bad happens to you, or better yet, prevents someone doing something bad to you for fear they will be caught on the camera...


I guess where you guys have this subject related to civil liberties, it's just the norm for us here so doesn't really phase anyone and is never an issue discussed in media.....


If they impliment in there, i'm sure in a year or 2 it will be a non issue... I personally don't mind it..

[Gandalf]

It seems like a normal thing to me. I have no problem with arbitrary checking, just as long as they don't target certain groups of people (on ethnic grounds for example).

I'm a civil liberties kind of guy, but in this case if there is nothing to hide then it shouldn't be a major problem. I would have no qualms with being checked, but then I refuse to drive a car either.

[BIG H]

I can see both sides. The problem s where I live, The Cops are all koonts and love to stop you just to p1ss you off. I got stopped for not wearing aseat belt the other day dropping my missus and little one off at nursery. When I had dropped them off, the old bill stopped me and then were going to seize the vehicel becuase I didn't have any ID and when they contacted the DVLA my missus was not the registered owner (she is, because I phoned them myself and they told me the old bill were talking sh1te)

Hate them

[Snakey]

Yeah like diz said this is just normal for us. We get alot of cops pulling over young people just because they are P platers (we have plates with the letter P on them to show every other driver that we are only on our a provisional license). Its bullshit in ways but if your not doing something wrong then why worry.

[El Kabong]

....if it's just at roadblocks then it's no different than what we have in the US...well either way it's pretty much the same as the US. If you cause enough trouble the police will find SOMETHING to book you for.

I agree with Ice-T, Fuck Da Police....I'd much rather just carry my own damn gun

[Dizaster]

....if it's just at roadblocks then it's no different than what we have in the US...well either way it's pretty much the same as the US. If you cause enough trouble the police will find SOMETHING to book you for.

I agree with Ice-T, Fuck Da Police....I'd much rather just carry my own damn gun

The right to safety is about your only really really really important right that you have.. And you've got a better chance of upholding that right than the police do...

I think police spend about 5% of the time doing worthwhile tasks, catching worthwhile criminals. Not that the law does the right things with them anyway...
But the other 95% of the time, they were wasting time bothering harmless people, asserting their authority where it's not needed..

Don't get me wrong, I believe they have a very tough job and respect anyone who straps on a gun each shift and risks their life for others... But the bulk of what the police force is about just isn't affective at dealing with societies actual problems..

[CFH]

....if it's just at roadblocks then it's no different than what we have in the US...well either way it's pretty much the same as the US. If you cause enough trouble the police will find SOMETHING to book you for.

I agree with Ice-T, Fuck Da Police....I'd much rather just carry my own damn gun

From the sounds of the article it seems like they would be able to pull you over without any cause and then breathalyze you, aslo without any cause. It doesn't seem like it would just be at roadblocks. I could be wrong though.

[El Kabong]

Sure in the US they are supposed to have "Just cause" but all that boils down to is what the cop feels like. The cop could say "I thought you were texting", "You crossed the yellow line back there", "you didn't turn on your blinker", etc etc etc....in the end you get pulled because the cop "feels like it".

This bullshit is not about SAFETY it never was and never has been, DUI's, seatbelt laws, etc all that shit is just for $$$$$.

[amat]

I agree with Lyle, it really doesn't matter (which is why I said they only need half a reason) but no, that's not just a deal where you can get pulled over for anything and now when they pull you over for no reason in that socialist hellhole Canada, they stick a breathlyzer in your mouth.

....They drug test on the side of the road? Where?

[VictorCharlie]

random check points near establishments that serve alcohol at peak times for drunk driving doesn't bother me. Randomly being pulled over and tested would piss me off, but as its already been mentioned here in the US if a cop wants to pull you over and administer a sobriety test there really isn't much you can do about it till the court date.

[killersheep]

random check points near establishments that serve alcohol at peak times for drunk driving doesn't bother me. Randomly being pulled over and tested would piss me off, but as its already been mentioned here in the US if a cop wants to pull you over and administer a sobriety test there really isn't much you can do about it till the court date.

That's pretty much my view too, highways on the way back from the lake on a holiday weekend when there's a historical precident of drunk driving related accidents. Or near the university bars around St. Paddy's day or Cinco de Mayo.
Those are understandable in my view. But on a day to day basis without probable cause I couldn't support it.

[Dizaster]

I agree with Lyle, it really doesn't matter (which is why I said they only need half a reason) but no, that's not just a deal where you can get pulled over for anything and now when they pull you over for no reason in that socialist hellhole Canada, they stick a breathlyzer in your mouth.

....They drug test on the side of the road? Where?

In Australia... The have a booze bus that sets up on the side of a busy road. Usually Friday and Saturday nights when most people are out having a good time.. They'll wave down random cars and you get breathalyzed and your mouth swabbed for drugs.. I'm pretty sure they test for all the main drugs except for Opium as there are to many legal applications of it so the amount of paperwork they would end up going through over people driving strong prescription pain killers made them just skip trying to catch people on that..
But otherwise yep, drug and alcohol test purely at random.. They don't have to suspect you of drug use by observing red eyes or weird pupils or odd activity, it's just mandatory testing for anyone who has a policeman at their window...

Then you can be pulled over anytime as well for any reason the police want to give, in fact i've been pulled over and they have not been able to give a reason. So anytime, any where, you can have a random alcohol and drug test without any reason other than bad luck..

[Howlin Mad Missy]

Sure in the US they are supposed to have "Just cause" but all that boils down to is what the cop feels like. The cop could say "I thought you were texting", "You crossed the yellow line back there", "you didn't turn on your blinker", etc etc etc....in the end you get pulled because the cop "feels like it".

This bullshit is not about SAFETY it never was and never has been, DUI's, seatbelt laws, etc all that shit is just for $$$$$.

That's how it is here. They can say any old shit & do to pull you over with every intention of giving you a breathaliser.

The other thing is hiding behind bushes with a speed gun, they're supposed to be visible but not the 3 piles of shyte that had nothing better to do last saturday afternoon.
Is it any wonder people hate them

Diz - it is the norm here and it did get media attention when it was introduced. People are just used to being shat on.