Driving Law

This week on Driving Law, Kyla Lee and Paul Doroshenko discuss a controversial Ontario Court of Appeal decision upholding Canada’s THC impaired driving laws, despite concerns that they may criminalize individuals who are not actually impaired. They examine the troubling shift in legal reasoning that appears to accept punishing innocent individuals as a necessary trade-off for public safety, and wh...

This week on Driving Law, Paul Doroshenko is joined by articling student Alice while Kyla Lee is away, tackling several important developments in impaired driving law. They break down a B.C. Supreme Court decision on causation in impaired driving causing bodily harm, where the court confirmed that impairment alone is not enough—there must be a causal connection between the impairment and the accid...

This week on Driving Law, Kyla Lee and Paul Doroshenko discuss several important impaired driving decisions, including a Quebec case confirming that proof of a qualified technician’s designation and training must be disclosed to the defence—despite recent Supreme Court rulings streamlining evidence. They also examine a key Ontario decision involving language barriers, where the failure to provide...

This week on Driving Law, Kyla Lee and Paul Doroshenko break down the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in R v Singer, addressing when police can enter private property without a warrant. The Court held that police may enter property for the purpose of communicating with an occupant, but not for gathering evidence—drawing a difficult and highly fact-specific distinction that will shape future imp...

This week on Driving Law, Kyla Lee and Paul Doroshenko break down a major Supreme Court of Canada decision in R v Singer, addressing whether police can enter private property to investigate impaired driving complaints. The Court ruled that police may enter onto private property for the purpose of communicating with an occupant, but not for the purpose of gathering evidence. The decision draws a fi...

This week on Driving Law, Kyla Lee flies solo while Paul recovers from illness and discusses her new British Columbia Impaired Driving Newsletter, which highlights important impaired driving cases and legal developments each week. Kyla breaks down a troubling impaired driving case where police delayed an Approved Screening Device demand to ask incriminating questions and then misled the accused ab...

This week on Driving Law, Kyla Lee and Paul Doroshenko discuss a major Court of Appeal decision involving ICBC hit-and-run claims and whether victims must investigate crashes themselves in order to obtain compensation. The court ultimately rejected the idea that injured drivers should conduct their own investigations when police efforts have already failed to identify a suspect. They also examine...

This week on Driving Law, Kyla and Paul discuss Vancouver’s decision to create its own in-house police training academy and what that could mean for policing standards and institutional knowledge in B.C. They also break down a traffic court appeal involving a distracted driving ticket and cross-examination fairness, and analyze an Alberta motorcycle case where a rider claimed he couldn’t hear poli...

This week on Driving Law, Kyla Lee discusses appearing at the Supreme Court of Canada on behalf of Women in Canadian Criminal Defence (WiCCD) in a case about compelled accident statements and the right to silence. The episode explores how roadside detention laws disproportionately impact women and marginalized people. Kyla and Paul also break down a major B.C. Court of Appeal decision upholding th...

This week on Driving Law, Kyla Lee and Paul Doroshenko break down a constitutional challenge out of Nunavut arguing that mandatory driving prohibitions amount to cruel and unusual punishment for Inuit hunters. They also analyze a major B.C. impaired driving decision involving multiple Charter breaches and what it means for roadside investigations going forward. Plus, a discussion about proposed ch...

This week on Driving Law, Kyla Lee and Paul Doroshenko unpack a major Toronto police corruption scandal involving allegations of organized crime, database abuse, and violent criminal activity. The episode explores why unrestricted access to police databases poses serious risks to privacy, accountability, and the rule of law. They also break down a new BC Court of Appeal decision confirming that si...

This week on Driving Law, Kyla and Paul dig into a packed week of driving law issues, including growing concerns over dangerously bright LED headlights, a Saskatchewan decision confirming necessity as a defence to a parking ticket, and new survey data on impaired driving enforcement in Canada. They also break down why public perception doesn’t always match legal reality when it comes to IRPs, inte...

This week on Driving Law, Kyla Lee and Paul Doroshenko break down a major Supreme Court of Canada hearing that could fundamentally change police powers to conduct random traffic stops. At the centre of the case is Lumumba, a challenge rooted in repeated arbitrary stops and clear evidence of racial profiling. The discussion explores whether individual Charter remedies are enough to address a system...

The Supreme Court of Canada has granted leave in a major impaired-driving case that could reshape how “causing death” offences are interpreted. This week on Driving Law, Kyla Lee and Paul Doroshenko break down why the case matters, how Parliament rewrote the offence, and why the absence of a causation requirement raises serious fairness concerns. The episode also looks at a Saskatchewan decision o...

A major Charter challenge hits a wall as the Supreme Court of Canada declines to hear the case on mandatory roadside breath testing. This week on Driving Law, Kyla Lee and Paul Doroshenko explain why the decision effectively ends the legal fight over mandatory ASD demands — and what it means for drivers going forward. The discussion also turns to growing concerns around police surveillance, as a S...

A new year brings new developments in driving law. This week on Driving Law, Kyla Lee and Paul Doroshenko break down Saskatchewan police officially implementing mandatory alcohol screening and why British Columbia continues to resist widespread use of the practice. They also discuss a significant Ontario case reinforcing the right to silence, concerns around police questioning after arrest, and wh...

This week on Driving Law, Kyla Lee and Paul Doroshenko break down major developments affecting drivers, including the real-world impact of legislative changes, court decisions shaping delay and disclosure, and what these shifts mean for fairness in the justice system. The conversation covers why procedural shortcuts matter, how traffic and impaired driving cases are being reshaped, and where drive...

This week on Driving Law, Kyla and Paul unpack Bill C-16, the federal government’s sweeping criminal law overhaul that directly impacts impaired driving cases, court delays, and mandatory minimum sentences. They explain how the bill undermines Jordan delay protections, expands police evidence retention timelines, and excludes impaired driving from a new sentencing “safety valve.” The episode wraps...

This week on Driving Law, Kyla and Paul unpack a troubling Ontario ruling that lets police get away with an invalid ASD demand simply because they could have made a different one. They also break down a BC decision on withdrawing a guilty plea, the ongoing conflict between Uber drivers and device-use laws, and Ontario’s wild new proposal forcing impaired drivers to pay child support. Plus, this we...

A new episode of Driving Law is now available to stream! 🚙⚖️ This week on Driving Law, Paul and I dig into a Nanaimo case where an elderly driver earned 215 demerits on a medical assessment but was still allowed to drive during review. We unpack what “procedural fairness” looks like, why doctors are required to report medical concerns, and why the headlines may not match the law. We also break do...

The Supreme Court of Canada has spoken — and it’s not the news we hoped for. This week on Driving Law, Kyla and Paul break down the SCC’s new decisions in Goldson and related cases on the admissibility of breath-test standards, why the “trust us, we’re government” approach undermines fair trials, and what Justice Côté’s dissent could mean for future constitutional challenges. And for the Ridiculou...

This week on Driving Law, Kyla Lee and Paul Doroshenko unpack a major refusal case out of B.C. that finally tests Saskatchewan’s landmark ruling on intent — does the Crown have to prove a driver meant to fail a breath test? They also dive into a troubling Alberta decision on police eavesdropping in ambulances, what it means for medical privacy, and why passengers might want to tell officers to sta...

Kyla Lee and Paul Doroshenko return to unpack the post-strike chaos at RoadSafetyBC. IRP hearings are being rushed, disclosure is delayed, and procedural fairness is on the brink — creating real legal issues for drivers and lawyers alike. They also talk about the ongoing Lapu-Lapu case, trial delays, and this week’s Ridiculous Driver — a woman who crashed an SUV into a hospital waiting room in Cow...

This week on Driving Law, Kyla Lee and Paul Doroshenko break down Canada’s new bail reform legislation and how it quietly changes the Criminal Code to bring back discretionary driving prohibitions in serious offences like criminal negligence and manslaughter. They explain what this means for drivers, defence lawyers, and why the timing of a plea could make a difference. Kyla also addresses controv...

Kyla and Paul open with Ontario’s R v. Klemp, where a breath-test certificate of a qualified technician was excluded because it was only shown to the accused, not given as the Criminal Code requires—a reminder that if the Crown wants hearsay shortcuts, it must strictly comply. They kick around the disclosure wrinkle of implied-undertaking “ownership” versus the court’s notion of permanent transfer...