Amacon owner and vice-president Donato Decotiis is petitioning the Supreme Court of British Columbia to allow him to drive, arguing that the law allowing police officers to issue immediate roadside driving bans has been ruled unconstitutional since his 2011 suspension.
Court documents Decotiis filed February 15 claim that “because I am unable to drive and therefore unable to satisfy my employment duties and responsibilities, my company has suffered financially.”
Decotiis said he normally drives between 500 and 600 kilometres each week between his development company’s many properties.
“At present, because I am unable to drive and therefore unable to satisfy my duties and responsibilities at Amacon, my position as vice-president has been placed in jeopardy,” he said in his petition to the court.
Taking taxis or public transit would be “impossible,” his court document says.
Decotiis is one of many drivers who were stopped by police and failed a breathalyzer test because a handheld device determined that they had more than 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, or a 0.08 blood alcohol concentration reading. Many of these drivers, like Decotiis, are petitioning the court to be able to drive.
B.C. implemented a controversial law that went into effect September 20, 2010. Police were given the authority to issue immediate roadside suspensions with no ability for the accused to appeal.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Jon Sigurdson struck down part of that law in December.
Sigurdson found that the 90-day driving ban and penalties and costs of up to $4,000 were unreasonable for drivers who failed breathalyzer tests by posting readings over 0.08.
Sigurdson called for there to be a hearing with lawyers to discuss how the law could be made constitutional, but that hearing has yet to take place.
Decotiis received his immediate roadside suspension April 27, 2011 and has served his 90-day prohibition.
He said in his petition that he is prohibited from driving because the superintendent refuses to issue him a driver’s licence until he meets three requirements:
• a $500 fine;
• participation in the responsible driver program; and
• participation in the ignition interlock program.
It is these additional penalties that he wants the court to defer, pending the outcome of the judicial review.
@GlenKorstrom
