Saying the province is decriminalizing drunk driving is a misconception, says traffic safety consultant Dave McKenzie.
McKenzie made his comments to the Barrhead Leader in response to an article that appeared on CBC News Dec. 29, noting the province’s directive is focused on the administration of impaired driving violations.
An Alberta Court of Appeal decision in May which, according to CBC struck down existing drunk driving laws precedes the changes and the first round of new legislation [Bill 29] provided by the NDP government passed in November.
Under Bill 29, drivers who blowover the legal limit will have their licences suspended automatically for three months.
However, if an impaired driver participates in the interlock program for a year, after three months the suspension will be lifted.
Otherwise, the suspension will be increased to 12 additional months.
“Criminal code aspects will remain. This just gives the police more discretion in how they choose to handle the situation, whether it be through roadside administrative sanctions, or with criminal charges,” McKenzie said, adding sometimes officers will pursue alternative actions and he believes the province has been really good in providing appropriate sanctions.
“The only time something goes on your record is when you have been convicted and you are fingerprinted. However, I’ve seen it happen many times where convictions for driving offenses are recorded on a criminal record but do not necessarily show up on the provincial driving record. With these changes, driving abstracts will have these violations on them and it will be useful for judges who hand down verdicts.”
McKenzie said it is important to remember that having a licence is a privilege.
“You don’t own your licence. The province does. You just rent it from them and they [province] have the authority to rescind it whenever they feel you are a danger on the road.”
To do a proper criminal investigation when an officer detects someone is under the influence of alcohol or narcotics, McKenzie said can take up to two hours and has all of the elements of a homicide investigation.
“All of the forensics involved, the specialized training required for breath-technicians.. the criminal code actually has more pages of case law attached to the impaired driving charge than it does to a homicide charge. It does make things more complicated, definitely but driving impaired is a dangerous activity and as a society, we simply cannot allow it,” he said.
