Cost of Impaired Driving

If you choose to drive while impaired, you face the possibility of seriously injuring yourself or others - mothers, daughters, wives, grandfathers, friends - that you do not know.

If you choose to drive impaired, you face the possibility of inflicting irrevocable pain and suffering on a family and countless innocent people that you do not know; not to mention your own family and friends.

If you choose to drive while impaired, you face the possibility of killing yourself or killing an innocent person.

Impaired driving is not an accident; it is a choice. Do not make that choice.

Financial Costs

In addition to the heartbreaking possibility of injuring or killing yourself or others, there are serious financial ramifications that could result from drinking or taking drugs and driving.

The immediate costs of an over .08 charge for a first time offender who has not caused damage to him/herself or others are very serious. These are:

  • Immediate 90-day license suspension
  • Criminal record
  • Down graded from 6-star driving record for total of 6 years

The estimated financial costs for this same offence are close to $20,000.00. See detailed breakdown below:

$1,000.00 Federal fine
$475.00 Back on Track program (remedial program)
$2,000.00 Legal Costs (est. at $2,000 to $10,000)
$150.00 License reinstatement fee
$13,500.00 Increased insurance ($4,500/year for 3 years)
$1,300.00 Ignition Interlock
$18,425.00 TOTAL

*from Understanding the Consequences of a Loved One’s Impaired Driving

We are able to estimate $18,425.00 from only the relatively static costs. You must also take into consideration lost wages due to court time, subsequent insurance costs (if it wasn’t a first conviction), towing and impound costs, third party costs (damages incurred by other parties) and secondary transit costs due to lack of driver’s license.

The penalties, of course, are much stiffer for subsequent convictions. And if a victim is created in the crash - you have killed or injured someone - you could face life in prison for impaired driving causing death or 10 years for impaired driving causing bodily harm (injury).

Detailed Penalties

The Ministry of Transportation in Ontario has created a detailed chart, demonstrating all the potential costs and penalties associated with impaired driving. Please view the chart below and/or visit the Ministry of Transportation for more information.

 

Consequences under the
Highway Traffic Act

Minimum Penalties
under the Criminal Code
First
Offence
  • 1 year licence suspension*
  • Remedial measures requirement
  • Minimum 1 year ignition interlock condition upon reinstatement
  • 1 year driving prohibition
  • $600 fine
Second
Offence
  • 3-year licence suspension*
  • Remedial measures requirement
  • Minimum 3 years ignition interlock condition upon reinstatement
  • 2-year driving prohibition
  • 14-day jail sentence
Third
Offence
  • Lifetime licence suspension*
    (reducible to 10 years if remedial measures requirement and other conditions met)
  • Ignition interlock condition for life if suspension reduced
  • 3-year driving prohibition
  • 90-day jail sentence
Fourth and
Subsequent
Offence
  • Lifetime licence suspension*
  • No possibility of reinstatement
  • Same as third offence

*In addition to the penalties outlined above, the judge may issue a probation or restitution order. A probation order may include: abstaining from alcohol; under-taking community service; submitting to an alcohol or drug assessment; participating in treatment; and any “other reasonable conditions the court considers desirable”. A restitution order compels the offender to compensate the victim, but these are rarely issued in impaired driving cases.


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