Study finds impaired drivers return behind the wheel after previous convictions
Posted Nov 27, 2011 03:22:21 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA, On- A new study by the Federal Justice Department has found that tougher sentences don’t appear to reduce crime, at least for the offence of impaired driving.
The research found that almost six of every ten Canadians convicted of impaired driving were found guilty of the same offence some years later.
The severity of the sentence for the first offence had no impact on whether the person offended again.
The study contradicts the Conservative government’s tough-on-crime policies, which call for longer jail terms and mandatory minimum sentences. A spokeswoman for justice minister Rob Nicholson defends the government’s tough-on-crime agenda, however, saying too many criminals were getting off too lightly.
The internal study, completed in July, was obtained by the Canadian Press under the access to information act.
