Grad Advice
Prince George, B.C. – As grad season moves into full swing, those who will be celebrating are being asked to ensure they have a safe ride from the festivities.
There are plenty of safe ways to get to and from a grad party, limos, taxis, designated drivers and transit, but even though someone else may be behind the wheel, it is illegal for any passenger (and of course driver) to be drinking alcohol in any of those modes of transportation.
Passengers need to know that limousine operators must refuse to board passengers carrying alcohol and they must terminate trips if they find alcohol being consumed in a vehicle. Trips must be terminated in a safe manner such as returning passengers to their starting point or calling parents to come and pick up minors. Operators who do not comply with liquor laws run the risk of losing their licences.
There are plenty of rules for limo companies to follow, including appropriate advertising, which does not allude to drinking alcohol in the limo. Other regulations require limos to have:
- a passenger transportation plate and decal displayed at all times
- limos with perimeter seating must have a special authorization licence
“Graduation is a significant milestone in life” says BC Association of Chiefs of Police Traffic Safety Committee A/Inspector Ken Eng . “Celebrating graduation should be the first day of the rest of your life and not the last. Students, teachers and parents all have responsibilities and a role to play to ensure that celebration events, formal or informal, are safe, including the transportation to and from these events. Working together, we can prevent a tragedy from being part of the Class of 2015 legacy.”
Police will be enforcing Liquor Control and Licencing Act and Motor Vehicle Act legislation with the objective that everyone gets home safe.
Comments
I don’t think its right to charge the driver when he had no knowledge of alcohol being brought into a vehicle by a passenger. Especially when he asks if there is any. He has done his part to comply. Then if a police officer finds a passenger with alcohol, that passenger alone should be charged.
Passengers will not put up with being searched for alcohol by the driver and he shouldn’t have to go to that extent to determine if there is any.
I have kicked people out of my vehicle when found to be drinking. That is the only way I can protect myself but then their business is lost to me as well. There has to be a more fair way for this to be dealt with.
Hold the person responsible for their actions.. We don’t like to do that these days..it’s always someone else’s fault.
If you are underage and drink you are breaking the law. It’s not rocket surgery. It’s not the limos drivers fault.
How about that it is illegal for a person under the age of 19 to consume alcohol, any place, any time, including during grad.
In a perfect world Loki that law would be followed… But I am guilty of drinking underage.. I know very, very few who have not..or will admit it. I am not condoning it at all, but I am a realistic and only saying… Be Safe out there.. Think before you drink..if you do decide to drink..have a Safe plan to get home.
“”Don’t assume that because you’ve laid out the argument or presented the idea that teenagers are interpreting it in the same way you’ve presented it,” she advises. “The frontal cortex is continuing to develop, and if you don’t have the neural structure in place, the adolescent cannot really think things through at the same level as an adult.”
Per: Deborah Todd-Yurgelun, PhD, of Harvard University’s McLean Hospital Cognitive Neuroimaging and Neuropsychology Laboratory.
In other words, teenagers can’t fully appreciate consequences and adults should put in structural barriers to prevent them for doing dumb things – or in other words, maybe drive your kid and his friends to the grad party and back rather than hoping they listen to you – because they aren’t.
Is this a grad thing or does it apply to everyone?
How many wedding parties hire a Limo for transportation after the service and consume alcohol as they proceed to pictures and then the reception. Happens all the time.
So are the RCMP going to be required to pull every Limo over now!!
“If you are underage and drink you are breaking the law. It’s not rocket surgery. It’s not the limos drivers fault.”
What’s rocket surgery?
Dumbfounded, I stole it from Homer Simpson…lol
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