Mother of woman killed by drunk driver plans to oppose legislation changes

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This article was published 22/03/2025 (214 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The family of a young woman killed by an impaired driver says proposed changes to provincial drunk driving legislation lacks teeth and plans to oppose them at an upcoming committee meeting.

Karen Reimer, whose daughter Jordyn was killed in 2022 while acting as a designated driver for her friends, will voice her opposition to changes to Bill 5 – The Highway Traffic Amendment Act (Impaired Driving Measures) at Tuesday evening’s justice committee meeting.

The suggested amendments would bring in tougher penalties to drunk drivers who cause injury or death.

“I strongly believe that if you have killed somebody the first time, you have forfeited your privilege to drive and you should have a lifetime suspension immediately,” she said.

In December the NDP government introduced legislation that would see drivers convicted twice of impaired driving causing bodily harm or death be slapped with a lifetime ban from driving.

Currently, a driver convicted for the first time receives a five-year automatic licence suspension. If the driver is convicted of a second offence within 10 years, they receive an automatic 10-year licence suspension.

Bill 5 would also prohibit those convicted of a first offence from driving with any alcohol in their blood for seven years.

The bill is expected to be subject to public feedback at Tuesday’s committee meeting.

Reimer says she has registered to speak in opposition to the changes.

“I feel that there’s a mindset of complacency and the feeling that any improvement to legislation for impaired driving is an improvement. I challenge that that’s not simply not true,” she said. “It’s like saying a whole lot of something but not doing anything.”

Jordyn Reimer was killed at the intersection of Kildare Avenue West and Bond Street when she was hit by Tyler Scott Goodman in a pick-up truck and slammed into the car Reimer was driving. Investigators determined he was travelling at 108 km/h. The speed limit was 50 km/h.

Goodman was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2023 after pleading guilty to impaired driving causing death and failing to stop at the scene.

Reimer’s family is also circulating a petition started by MADD Canada to call on the federal government to mandate anti-impairment technology in all new cars.

The petition references legislation passed by the United States in 2021 which, beginning in 2027, mandates all new vehicles manufactured in the U.S. come equipped with technology to detect signs of impairment before the car will drive.

South of the border, car manufacturers are considering a few options including in-car cameras, sensors which can detect the odor of alcohol and other technology to determine if the driver is intoxicated.

MADD Canada president Tanya Hansen Pratt said the legislation would be more useful than begging people to quit drinking and driving, which continues to account for roughly one in four road deaths in Canada per year.

“If we can do something where the drivers literally have to do nothing and it prevents them from driving impaired, this can save the lives that are currently being taken on our roads,” she said.

Reimer agrees.

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“For me, it’s the absolute number one thing that we need to do if we’re really, truly going to move forward with prevention,” she said. “If we just continue to be trying to put reactive consequences and deterrence in place, we’ll be racking up the numbers year after year.”

Last week Manitoba Public Insurance called for a renewed commitment to driving sober after 15 people were killed in drunk-driving-related incidents in Manitoba last year.

The Crown corporation reported the number as part of National Impaired Driving Prevention Week.

Along with the 15 fatalities, 118 others were injured, including some who sustained life-altering injuries as a result of impaired driving collisions.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca

Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer

Nicole Buffie is a reporter for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom as a multimedia producer in 2023. Read more about Nicole.

Every piece of reporting Nicole produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.