• You can drive with three drinks in you.

This is wrong.  The best practice is to drink nothing before driving.  Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) testing done by the police is based on a formula that may or may not be completely correct for any given individual.  It is based on the theory that the concentration of alcohol in your blood is approximately 2200 times greater than the concentration of alcohol in your breath (deep lung air).  This is different for each person, and the actual BAC for any person at any given time is also dependant upon a number of other variables, such as the rate alcohol is absorbed and eliminated by that individual, what and when they have eaten, and what and when they have consumed.  At best a toxicologist can only give a range of possible BAC’s based on knowing all of these variables.

• Chewing gum and/or cigarettes can fool the “breathalyzer”

Again untrue.  Before conducting any breath test, the police will wait for about ten minutes for mouth alcohol, contents and cigarette smoke to clear.  This only relates to the “roadside” test.  The formal test will be conducted quite some time later, and the police will have you under observation for that time.

• You don’t have to provide a roadside sample, if it is not part of a “RIDE” program

If you fail or refuse to provide a roadside sample, you will be charged with “Refuse Roadside Test”, and be subject to an immediate 90 day licence suspension and the same penalties as if you had been arrested, taken to the station and charged with “Impaired” or “Over 80”.  There is no point in refusing to provide a roadside sample, if you are the driver.

• If your licence is suspended, you can still drive to work

Once again, sorry.  There is no provision to allow for this.  You licence will be suspended for a period of at least one year if you are convicted of “Impaired”, “Over 80”, or “Refuse Roadside Test”.

1. If asked to provide a Roadside Test, do so, as long as you are the driver.  I have had cases where passengers, and even pedestrians have been asked to blow.  They have no obligation to do so, and should politely decline.
2. If asked to perform “sobriety tests” (touching your nose, walking the line), whether by the police officer who stops you or at the station, politely decline.
3. Be respectful and courteous to the police at all times.  If you ever expect to get any kind of a break from anybody in charge in the system, this is a good way to start that process.
4. Do not make any admissions or say what you have had to drink and when.  This can be used against you if you try to set up certain defences that may be available.  If asked questions about where you were coming from, what you were doing, who you were with, what you had to drink, advise the officer that you wish to consult with a lawyer before answering such questions.
5. Provide all documents – licence, ownership and insurance – when asked to do so.
6. Ask to speak to a criminal lawyer or duty counsel before providing breath tests at the station.
7. If you feel that you did not have enough to drink to justify the BAC readings the police have obtained, make sure you round up your witnesses and any documentation (bar receipts, etc.) right away, and make sure they give your lawyer written statements right away, before they forget what happened.
8. If your licence is under suspension, do not drive.  This is a serious offence and can be subject to extremely heavy fines and/or imprisonment.