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By Chris Brown

Traffic Safety Amendment Act

Province seeks to improve highway safety for roadside workers

Mar 16, 2022 | 4:36 PM

New legislation tabled today by the province aims to protect roadside workers and make Alberta highways safer.

Under Bill 5, the Traffic Safety Amendment Act, motorists travelling in the same direction will need to slow to 60 km/h when passing a roadside worker vehicle with its lights on. The same rule will apply to motorists on single-lane highways travelling in the opposite direction.

The amendment will give roadside maintenance workers and snowplow operators the same protections first responders and tow truck operators currently have.

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“Near misses and collisions are a regular occurrence for Alberta’s tow truck operators, emergency responders and other roadside workers,” says Michelle Chimko, president and CEO, Alberta Motor Association, in a new release. “We applaud these changes as an important first step in improving the safety of these essential workers and look forward to our continued work in further improving their visibility and safety. We ask all Albertans to take care when passing a roadside scene. Those few extra seconds can make all the difference in keeping someone’s loved one safe.”

According to the province, there were 128 collisions involving snowplows contracted by Alberta Transportation between March 2018 and March 2021. The Alberta Motor Association reported that since December 2019, there have been 36 near misses and at least 13 serious roadside incidents involving Alberta tow trucks and passing vehicles ‒ collisions resulting in injury, hospitalization and even death.

Current fines for passing an emergency vehicle on the side of the road can range from $136 to $826, depending on the speed. Enforcement is expected to start in the spring of 2023 following an education campaign.