Neck guard sales jump after Sask. hockey player slashed by skate
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More adult players are now investing in the protective equipment.
Starting Tuesday, police will not need a specific reason to make you do a breathalyser test.
Until now, officers needed reasonable grounds like smelling alcohol or noticing signs of impairment to do a breathalyser test.
Many feel Saskatchewan, the province with the country’s highest drunk driving rates could benefit from such a law.
But Saskatoon Lawyer Mark Brayford thinks the law is ill-conceived.
“This law is a very bad law in the sense that it draws resources away from high-risk suspects, in other words, people with alcohol on their breath and focuses enforcement on people who observable appear to be sober.”
Brayford thinks it’s problematic for reasons beyond that aswell.
“If you say ‘I won’t blow unless I can talk to a lawyer,’ you’ll be charged with refusal, it won’t be a defence and you’ll have to fight it all the way to the Supreme Court,” he said. “I think that someday “you would win” that court battle.”
Brayford believes eventually the Supreme Court will rule on whether a roadside test is mandatory, or if drivers can consult with a lawyer first.
The federal impaired driving legislation was passed in June.
Similar rules for providing breath samples are already in place in more than 40 countries.
-With files from The Canadian Press