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This week on the Driving Law podcast, I am joined by Paul Doroshenko of Acumen Law Corporation. We discuss the surprise guilty plea in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash case, as well as the news that broke this week about how police can charge you with impaired driving for being over the legal limit two hours after you have finished driving, even if it is due to alcohol consumed after you stopped driving a vehicle.

I’m also pleased to announce that the Driving Law podcast is now part of the Cannabis Media Collective!

You can listen online on SoundCloud, PlayerFM, or subscribe on iTunes!

In the week leading up to this week’s edition of Weird and Wacky Wednesdays, I have been very interested in what is happening in fast food restaurants. A lot of strange legal stories seem to take place there, and I have found three of the most interesting cases out there. First, we look at how a Florida law requiring customers to ask for a plastic straw led to a commotion in a McDonald’s. Then, we see just how far (too far) a man was willing to go to get some hot sauce at a Taco Bell. And finally, we examine a 1960s case involving competing claims to the Burger King name.

Read on to find out how fun and interesting the law can be, even in a fast food restaurant.

Several years ago, RoadSafetyBC had a problem with lengthy and indefinite extensions in rendering IRP review decisions. They cleared the backlog, for the most part, and cases are now generally decided within the twenty-one day timeframe. This is the time limit mandated under the Motor Vehicle Act.

However, there are still some occasions where the cases cannot be decided in this time period. In such occasions, the Superintendent may take an extension of the time to render a decision. The Superintendent may also release the vehicle and reinstate the driver’s license until such a time as a decision is rendered.

Until recently, the practice was that if the extension was short, typically a week or so, the vehicle would not be released and the license would remain prohibited. However, if the extension were longer then the Superintendent would reinstate the license. After all, the courts have repeatedly confirmed that these matters are meant to be dealt with expeditiously. And it renders the whole review process moot if the consequences are served in full or in large part before a decision is rendered.

I say until recently because this has now changed. And it is, in my opinion, totally wrong.

This week on the Driving Law podcast, I am very excited to be joined by Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth to discuss the future of cannabis-imapired driving in British Columbia, the Community Safety Unit or the “pot police,” and how Bill C-46 will impact the Immediate Roadside Prohibition regime.

I’m also pleased to announce that the Driving Law podcast is now part of the Cannabis Media Collective!

You can listen online on SoundCloud, PlayerFM, or subscribe on iTunes!

This week on Weird and Wacky Wednesdays, we explore the depths of human frustration. First, we see how an overly competitive workplace can drive some to do terrible misdeeds. Then, we look at how really bad parking can also trigger murderous rage. Finally, to lighten things up, we look at the case of a strange arrest for public intoxication and what the fallout of that is for the public in West Virginia.

All this and more below the jump!

After Bill C-46 was introduced, impaired driving practitioners across the country had a lot of questions. And while we all conferred amongst ourselves (and through the Canadian Impaired Driving Lawyers Association) about what was going to come of these changes to the impaired driving regime, two enterprising lawyers set out to write a book about it.
 
I was very kindly asked to review the book, and post my thoughts on my blog. So without further ado, here is my review of Impaired Driving and Other Criminal Code Driving Offences: A Practitioner’s Handbook by Karen Jokinen and Peter Keen.

This week on the Driving Law Podcast, I speak with the authors of the new impaired driving textbook, Impaired Driving and Other Criminal Code Driving Offences: A Practitioner’s Handbook, Peter Keen and Karen Jokinen. We discuss some of the more nuanced aspects of C-46, including the rationale behind some of the major changes and the potential for constitutional challenge. It is a must-listen for impaired driving practitioners.

If you listen to the end of the podcast, I will provide a discount code for you to get 10% off your own copy by ordering online at Emond Publishing.

You can listen online on SoundCloud, PlayerFM, or subscribe on iTunes!

This week on Weird and Wacky Wednesdays, we look at what is possibly the best Florida story thus far, complete with an appearance by one of my favorite childhood cartoons. Then, we get a little bit into the Christmas spirit with a case involving a man in a chimney. Finally, we lose all Christmas spirit and hope for society over a couple of Oreo cookies.

Follow the link to read on and find out about the weirdest legal cases I could stomach this week.