Don’t Get Drunk Driving a Wheelchair – DUI Laws in Canada

Did you know that in Canada, our DUI laws can result in you being arrested and found guilty for operating a motorized scooter while drunk?

How could this be? Well, the definition of a motor vehicle is any vehicle that is pulled, propelled, or driven by any means other than muscular power.

These DUI laws stem from the Ontario case Rv Shanahan. The facts of this case are as follows. A man who was injured used a motorized scooter to go out one night. He ended up getting drunk. He was seen by police erratically crossing a street. He was “arrested” and charged with driving while intoxicated.

An important piece of information in this case is that the defendant could move approximately one hundred to one hundred fifty meters on his own.

The Ontario Court that heard the case determined that a personal motorized device, such as a wheelchair, is a motorized vehicle under the Penal Code. However, the defendant later filed an application under section 15 of the Shipper arguing that his equal rights were violated.

The equal rights hearing addressed the following two topics.

1. Were defendant’s section 15 equality rights violated?

JD Wake J. (the Hon. Judge) held that Canada’s DUI laws (in this case, section 253 of the Penal Code) do not distinguish between people who rely on motorized wheelchairs and people who do not need wheelchairs motorized.

The defendant then argued that the DUI laws resulted in injustice (ie, inequality) to people without disabilities. This argument failed because the Court found that the defendant was mobile without a motorized wheelchair.

Additionally, people without disabilities who walk in public while intoxicated can be arrested and convicted of mischief. This means that there is really no difference regarding DUI laws between disabled and non-disabled people. Both groups can be arrested for being drunk in public.

2. The Court then addressed whether the result offended the dignity of the accused under section 15 of the Charter.

The Court held no for the following reason:

“The argument in favor of overthrowing art. 253 [of the Criminal Code] it seems that the dignity of a disabled person can only be upheld if they are given the right to behave in a lack of dignity. In my opinion, section 15 of the Charter should not be used to support the result of such inverted reasoning.”

When all is said and done, a person operating a motorized wheelchair can be convicted of DUI in Canada.

Consider the following 3 points/questions:

This specific case (Rv Shanahan) involved someone not totally disabled. Therefore, the result could be different if a person were 100 percent disabled.

Question: Can’t people with pain medication problems use motorized wheelchairs outside of their home? I just ask this question, I don’t know the answer.

Can a person be arrested for DUI simply by sitting in a stationary personal motorized device, such as a wheelchair?

DUI laws in Canada hold that a person in the driver’s seat of a car or truck while incapacitated can be found guilty under our DUI laws. I haven’t read a case that addresses this issue, but it seems possible to be immobile in a restaurant in a motorized wheelchair, for example, while incapacitated to violate Canada’s DUI laws.