Quote:
Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen
Currently, an officer needs to charge a person under the Criminal Code in order to "get them" for impaired driving (i.e. not blowing over 0.05). They have their licenced revoke for a year after being found guilty. An officer can revoke a licence if they blow over 0.05, however, as Alberta Transportation states.
The new Bill 29 allows an officer to bypass that completely and revoke the licence for 3 months and require a device installed simply if they believe the person is impaired. Whereas before, they could only issue a 24 hour suspension under this:
Currently, if I'm swerving in and out of lanes (or if the officer said I did) and get pulled over and blow 0.04, I can be charged under the Criminal Code. I can have my licence revoked for 24 hours and my car impounded. I get them both back the next day. I lose my licence for a year if I'm found guilty.
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The section you’re pointing to (172) to cite the 24 hour rule isn’t related to license disqualification. In fact, if impaired and not charged under the criminal code, your license is gone for 3, 15, or 30 days (not 24 hours).
If charged under section 253 of the criminal code:
Quote:
Operation while impaired
253 (1) Every one commits an offence who operates a motor vehicle or vessel or operates or assists in the operation of an aircraft or of railway equipment or has the care or control of a motor vehicle, vessel, aircraft or railway equipment, whether it is in motion or not,
(a) while the person’s ability to operate the vehicle, vessel, aircraft or railway equipment is impaired by alcohol or a drug; or
(b) having consumed alcohol in such a quantity that the concentration in the person’s blood exceeds eighty milligrams of alcohol in one hundred millilitres of blood.
Marginal note:For greater certainty
(2) For greater certainty, the reference to impairment by alcohol or a drug in paragraph (1)(a) includes impairment by a combination of alcohol and a drug.
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The punishments are much more severe while you wait for trial, as under section 88.1 anyone charged under 253 has their licence suspended until the resolution of their criminal charge.
253 states you have to be impaired OR blow over .08 to be charged under the criminal code. Maybe I’m wrong, but that doesn’t seem to be a high bar to hit.
And I reject your assumption that I’m moving the goal posts or have been factually incorrect. You just cited 172 to talk about when you get your license back which doesn’t even mention licenses, so at worst we’ve both made a mistake (mine being the mandatory device testing). Though I still hold firm that any enforcement not based on firm evidence is going to be appealed and overturned easily, based on Bill 29.