OHTA.ca

I appreciate that one of the restrictions on the G1 licensed driver is that the accompanying passenger must have a .05 BAC or lower.

I wonder though who the penalty goes to?

It seems to me that it should go to the accompanying passenger as the G1 licensed driver would have no way to know how impaired the accompanying passenger is.

But I have no idea what the rules are or what the penalties are for either the G1 driver or the accompanying passenger.

Anyone have any ideas?

If it is the G1 driver, is there any case law that supports a conviction for this?

Thanks.

The G1 driver would get a ticket for violating the conditions of their novice license, much like if they drive by themselves.

JohnDeere wrote:The G1 driver would get a ticket for violating the conditions of their novice license, much like if they drive by themselves.

I appreciate the reply but how do you know this?

Is there any precedent for such a charge?

It would seem to me that getting out of such a ticket would be child's play.

And would the accompanying driver get charged with anything?

Edit: Before posting, I checked Canlii and can find very few G1 license violation cases at all and nothing on point. I may be missing something/ some search criteria that would be helpful

The accompanying driver can be charged if they refuse to surrender their licence upon the demand of a police officer or if they refuse to provide a breath sample when the demand is made. If they're BAC is above .05 however the charge goes to the actual driver. It fall under section 5(1)(2) of Regulation 340/94 of the HTA. I don't know how common the charge is, but it's certainly possible you could be charged. Assuming it's not an absolute liability offence then a defence of due diligence may be available if you can convince the Court you had no reason to suspect your accompanying driver had been consuming alcohol.