New impaired driving legislation starts Dec. 1

Once an officer is on scene they will serve the driver papers, and the driver will have their vehicle seized for 30 days.

“It used to be a 3-day seizure now it’s a 30-day seizure. The officer will upload the information to the provincial website and from there the officer is done with the offense. There is no court time, there’s no court attendance, and the same thing for the accused as well. They will meet if they choose to with the adjudicator via telephone or Zoom meeting and they will not see a courtroom either.”

With the administrative penalties, the $1,000 fine is right up front with the choice to pay right away Sadlemyer added.

There will be certain circumstances if it’s a repeat offender then a criminal code charge will also be laid.

“If it’s a situation where a person gets into a vehicle collision and hits multiple vehicles and property or injures a person, then there’s an option to go to criminal code, but the administrative side of it will always be in place.”

He says under the traffic safety act, the first offense for driving while suspended is a $5,000 fine.

And commercial drivers driving big semis can’t have any alcohol in their system at all.

The full legislation can be found by visiting the Medicine Hat Police website.

by Chantal Wagner

New impaired driving legislation starts Dec. 1

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