“These streamlined administrative options for some offenders have proven to be very effective in reducing impaired driving and saving lives in other provinces,” he said. The Government of Alberta will not appeal a court decision that struck down the Impaired Driving Act.2 An additional driving ban of 1 year from the date of the indictment. However, during this second phase, a person may be able to drive with a limited license if they participate in the Ignition Interlock program for a period of 1 year. If the person does not participate in the administrative lock-in program, they will be prohibited from driving for an additional 12 months after the initial 90-day period for a total suspension of 15 months. Just in time for the holidays, Bill C-46 aims to further reduce drunk driving. The law allows law enforcement agencies to require a breath test of anyone they arrest, even if there is no suspicion of drunk driving. The laws surrounding impaired driving and the associated consequences of your driver`s licence are technical, complex and constantly evolving. The information on this website is not intended to be legal advice and is not a substitute for talking to a lawyer. If you are facing an impaired driving charge or administrative suspension, contact one of our impaired driving lawyers who will be happy to help you with the legislation, and new drivers caught with drugs or alcohol in their system will be fined $200 in addition to the penalties already in place. including a 30-day suspension and a seven-day vehicle seizure.
The new amendments to Alberta`s laws do not affect this criminal suspension of driving. Nor does it change the mandatory contact lock-in program, which requires Alberta government individuals to participate in order to recover their licence after a conviction under the Criminal Code. Please visit Canada`s Impaired Driving website for statistics, research and more information on the dangers of impaired driving. Currently, Alberta officials must have reason to request a breathalyzer test after legally stopping a driver at a stop, or for misconduct, such as thread lanes, excessive speed (or driving too slow), ignorance of signs and lights, or the cause of an accident. At this time, they may notice clues such as red eyes, driving with the window open in bad weather, scrambled words and, of course, the smell of alcohol. They will also ask you if you have consumed alcohol, which is a question they often get a dishonest answer to. The number of cases of drug loss in road traffic has increased, while the number of cases of drunk driving has decreased. This is a source of great concern.
Statistics Canada notes that “drug-impaired driving increased from 2% of all impaired driving incidents in 2009 to 4% in 2015.” Impaired driving is a serious crime that poses a significant threat to public safety. Having the prohibited level of alcohol, THC or other debilitating drugs in the blood within two hours of driving is a criminal offence. This new provincial law does not amend the provisions of the federal Penal Code that deal with suspensions of conduct after a person has been convicted. If a person is convicted of a traffic offence, they are nevertheless subject to a mandatory driving ban under the Criminal Code. The Criminal Code states that the minimum driving ban applies for one year from the date of conviction (and could be longer for repeat offenders or if the judge decides that a longer prohibition is appropriate in the circumstances of the case). On April 9, 2018, Alberta`s new Administrative Licence Suspension Act came into force. This applies to people who are suspected by police of having committed an impaired driving offence (e.g., , obstructing driving, driving with a blood alcohol level greater than 0.08, or refusing to provide a sample to a police officer). In May 2017, the Alberta Court of Appeal found this indefinite licence suspension to be unconstitutional. It subjected people to punitive sanctions for “a simple charge of a crime, regardless of the presumption of innocence.
The Court of Appeal declared Alberta`s law unconstitutional, but gave the government a year to correct the law before the law stopped working. These new laws are the Government of Alberta`s response to the Court of Appeal`s decision. But Alberta Transportation says public safety is driving change. “Alberta`s driving laws are designed to give police the tools they need to get impaired drivers off the road and help keep roads as safe as possible for all road users,” the statement said. Regardless of how a driver is affected, harsher and more immediate penalties should have an effect. “We are looking at a proven model that should ultimately improve road safety for Albertans,” Kasbrick said. “No case of impaired driving is worth it; The new law helps cement this fact. These changes follow a May decision by the Alberta Court of Appeal that struck down existing laws against drunk driving.