Despite the province's pledge to keep the pressure on drunk drivers, the number of people caught over the limit has plummeted in the months since part of B.C.'s new drunk-driving law was struck down.
In November, a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled that the immediate 90-day driving bans for people who blow a "fail" in roadside tests were unconstitutional because there wasn't a fair appeal process. In the fallout, the province promised that drunk drivers would still be caught and charged the old way -- through the Criminal Code.
Since then, an average of about 318 impaired charges has been approved and 456 recommended by police every month. That's just a fraction of the approximately 1,283 people per month who were suspended from driving after blowing a "fail" under the unconstitutional law.
Meanwhile, impaired driving charges laid so far each month in 2012 are about half what they were in 2009 and 2010.
Lawyer Diego Solimano speculates that police may have backed off enforcement while they waited for the government to come up with a replacement for the impugned law.
"It may be that in this phase between laws, the police officers have stepped back a little bit because they know the law is about to change, but that shouldn't happen. If you're being tough on drunk drivers, you should be tough on trying to catch drunk drivers throughout," he told CTV News.
The government is planning on going back to the immediate roadside bans in June after introducing a number of new ways for drivers to appeal their suspensions with the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles. Police officers will be legally obligated to inform drivers of their right to take a second test on another breathalyzer -- and the lower reading will prevail.
But critics like defence lawyer Paul Doroshenko say that even with the changes, there isn't a fair appeal process and the law will likely be contested again.
"What is this going to cost B.C. taxpayers? Eventually this is probably going to end up going back to court," he said.
A number of suspected drunk drivers are already in court fighting to get back the $4,000 they were penalized under the old law, and there are hundreds of others who hope to launch a class action lawsuit if the judge rules there should be compensation.
It's estimated the province collected about $60 million from drivers who blew a "fail" since the new law was introduced in September 2010.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Mi-Jung Lee
