Alberta Ramps Up Tough Drinking And Driving Laws
Tuesday, September 4, 2012 @ 3:45 AM
The legislation by the province of Alberta that allows new penalties for those who are found to have a blood alcohol level between .05 and .08 brings to the forefront the efforts being made by legislators across the country to stop the practise of drinking and driving.
Just as B.C. beefed up it’s roadside penalties, Alberta police are now able to order a vehicle impounded for 3 days and a licence suspended for three days for anyone found to be in the .05 – .08 range.
Interestingly enough it was not too many decades ago when it was fashionable to have a “roadee” as you drove the highways of Canada. While the practise of having open liquor in your vehicle could bring a fine, rarely was the driver asked to blow unless they appeared to be in an enhanced state of impairment.
In recent years, that practise has all but been wiped out and the modern generation does not buy into the notion of drinking and driving.
There are still some who hold to the old principles that ,’Its okay’ , there is however a growing feeling that even the slightest impairment whether it is drugs or liquor impair the ability of one’s driving ability and even Alberta has now bought into the notion. If Alberta’s experience is anything like B.C’s, there should be a significant decline in the number of deaths related to impaired driving. In B.C, in the first year of the new law, there were 45 fewer deaths from alcohol related crashes.
Yes, the B.C. law was challenged for its possible constitutional violations, and the government responded with changes which will make the law stand up to the test. Alberta may also see a constitutional challenge as the licence suspension given an accused driver could remain in place until the matter is dealt with by the courts, and that could take an unreasonable amount of time.
Whether Alberta’s new rules are challenged or not, the new rules will make the roads safer for all of us.
I’ Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.
Comments
Very good to see. I hope the rest of the provinces and territories follow suit now.
Let me first state that I do not condone drinking and driving. Having qualified that, I have two problems with these new legislations:
1 – Why will they not show the stats of accidents caused by someone between .05 and .08? I suspect because they would show that drinkng and driving deaths are caused by drivers far above .05
2 – I still do not agree with the “judge, jury executioner” form of punishment. Everyone deserves thier day in court. Road side full conviction is BS
“Why will they not show the stats of accidents caused by someone between .05 and .08? I suspect because they would show that drinkng and driving deaths are caused by drivers far above .05”
Perhaps, but how many of those people thought they were “okay to drive” and within the legal limit? Show me someone who gets pulled over for a DUI and 90% of the time I’ll bet that same person would swear up and down that they are not impaired.
I think these new laws are about getting people to recognize that even one or two drinks will put you over the limit (so you won’t even risk driving) as much as they are about reducing accidents and fatalities.
I think the next logical step a number of years down the road (once these news rules are accepted), will be a zero tolerance rule. Any alcohol in your system and you are fined, driving restrictions applied, etc. I personally wouldn’t have an issue with that type of law and to be honest, most of the people I speak to wouldn’t either. I should also add that I’m not of the generation that saw it as okay to have a “roadee” as Ben put it.
Why not just make .05 the legal limit then?
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