New provincial penalties are in place for drivers suspected of being impaired behind the wheel in Alberta, in addition to existing criminal charges and fines.
Effective April 9, all drivers found with criminal levels of alcohol impairment will have their driver’s licence suspended for 90 days, followed by mandatory one-year use of a interlock ignition device.
Should a driver choose not to participate in the interlock program, their licence will be suspended for one year.
“We’ve strengthened our provincial impaired driving sanctions to make our roads safer and continue to deter impaired driving – whatever the source of impairment may be,” said Brian Mason, Alberta transportation minister.
The new penalties apply for anyone found with a blood alcohol concentration over the .08 legal limit, drivers who are impaired by drugs, a combination of drugs and alcohol, or anyone who refuses of fails to comply with a demand for a blood or breath sample.
The provincial penalties will be in addition to criminal charges and penalties already imposed by the courts.
The changes set a framework to incorporate cannabis-related impaired driving rules once federal marijuana legislation is approved. It also adjusts Alberta’s sanctions for alcohol-related impaired driving offences in response to a court ruling that overturned previous provincial penalties.
In May 2017, an Alberta Court of Appeal decision deemed parts of the Province’s driver’s licence suspension rules to be unconstitutional.
The court overruled previous rules that allowed the indefinite suspension of a driver’s licence when charges were laid until after that charge was resolved in the courts. The new legislation institutes a 90-day, fixed-term licence suspension in response to the decision.
“We believe that this strikes the right balance and conforms to the court decision, that’s why we’re doing this now,” said John Archer, Mason’s press secretary.
The law also sets a framework for provincial regulations around impaired driving by marijuana, which will come in effect after the federal cannabis legislation is approved. Upon federal approval, the Province will enforce criminal-level provincial penalties, similar to those for alcohol impairment, for cannabis and drug-related driving offences.
“We don’t know when we will enact that because we’re waiting for the federal government to put the finishing touches on their cannabis legislation,” said Archer.
He said the legal limits for cannabis will be outlined by the federal government.
There is also zero tolerance for alcohol or cannabis for anyone with a graduated driver’s licence (GDL). If found with cannabis, alcohol or any illegal drugs in their system, GDL drivers will have their licence suspended for 30 days, their vehicle impounded for seven days and they’ll be subject to an extended GDL term.
The licence suspension can be triggered if an investigating police officer has reasonable grounds to believe a driver is impaired by drugs and alcohol. All drivers have a right to a second breath test for alcohol or a blood test. They may appeal the penalties to the Alberta Transportation Safety Board.
The Province has also made changes to streamline the processes at the Alberta Transportation Safety Board, limiting the number of times the board will be able to reconsider a decision without new evidence.
