Re: York Region Police and OPP announce CRACKDOWN ON SPORTBIKES
In my best 50's Hollywood germanic accent... "Your papers, please..."
BTW, were you aware that RIDE programs are technically a violation of your Charter of Rights?
Yeah, they set up RIDE programs just for me. Who's paranoid now?
Save your finger vomit for someone who isn't smarter than you.
In Dedman v. The Queen, 1985, the argued challenged the validity of the stop under the RIDE program. The appellant, Dedman, argued that there was no statutory authority for the stop (ie- nothing under the Criminal Code or the Ontario Highway Traffic Act authorizing random stops), therefore it was unlawful detention, a violation of the Charter.
The Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that it was not a violation of the Charter of rights.
The majority held that
"Common law authority for the random vehicle stops, for the purpose contemplated by the R.I.D.E. program, may be derived from the general duties of police officers on the basis of the test laid down in R. v. Waterfield, [1963] 3 All E.R. 659. The right to circulate in a motor vehicle on the public highway may be described as a liberty; however, when assessing the interference caused by a random vehicle stop, it cannot be regarded as a fundamental liberty like an individual's right of movement, since it is a licensed activity subject to regulation and control for the protection of life and property.
Applying the Waterfield test, the random vehicle stop was a prima facie unlawful interference with liberty since it was not authorized by statute. The random stop does fall within the general scope of police duties to prevent crime and to protect life and property by the control of traffic as these are the very objects of the R.I.D.E. program, a measure intended to improve the deterrence and detection of impaired driving.
The random vehicle stop was not an unjustifiable use of police power because it was both necessary to the execution of police duty and reasonable, having regard to the nature of the liberty interfered with and the importance of the public purpose served by the interference.
Random stops for the R.I.D.E. program do not unreasonably interfere with the right to circulate on the highway because of the importance of deterring impaired driving, the necessity of random stops to effective detection, the fact that driving is already subject to regulation and control in the interests of safety and the minor inconvenience experienced by innocent motorists."
So no... R.I.D.E. Programs are not a violation of your Charter Rights.
Source:
http://www.canlii.org/eliisa/highlight.do?text=%22Reduced+Impaired+Driving+Everywhere%22&language=en&searchTitle=Search+all+CanLII+Databases&path=/en/ca/scc/doc/1985/1985canlii41/1985canlii41.html
