Acting Sgt. Jason Darby with Lethbridge Police (Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet

Lethbridge Police in support of new provincial impaired driving rules

Dec 1, 2020 | 10:43 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – New impaired driving laws are officially in effect across Alberta.

Bill 21, the Provincial Administrative Penalties Act, changes how impaired drivers are penalized and how traffic ticket disputes are handled. The Lethbridge Police Service has voiced its support for the new legislation.

READ MORE: New impaired driving rules in effect across Alberta Dec. 1

“Any time that we are able to make the roads safer for Albertans, it’s something that we can get behind and we can fully support,” said Acting Sergeant Jason Darby with LPS.

Bill 21 gives law enforcement the tools to administer stricter penalties for impaired drivers on the road, while most first-time impaired driving charges will be handled quicker outside of the court system and through SafeRoads Alberta.

Nighttime construction on Hwy 3 in Lethbridge starts April 17

Apr 17, 2025

SASHA launches #BuyABed fundraiser to support vulnerable Lethbridge residents

Apr 04, 2025

$20K grants available: TELUS STORYHIVE Pan-Asian Edition opens applications April 1

Mar 18, 2025

“Similar to before, all impaired drivers will be subject to immediate roadside sanctions. However, not all impaired drivers are going to be charged criminally. A person will no longer be charged criminally with impaired driving unless certain criteria are met,” Darby said.

He explained that criteria.

“If there’s previous IRS (Immediate Roadside Sanctions) or criminal charges against that person for impaired driving; if that person’s involved in a collision causing bodily harm, death or other significant property damage; if they have other criminal charges at the same time as the impaired driving charges; if their blood alcohol is in excess of 160 milligrams percent; if they have a passenger in the car under the age of 16, as well as any other significant public safety factors that one might be able to think of,” Darby said.

He said all members of the Lethbridge Police Service are equipped to handle the new laws.

“We as a service were involved in some training in Calgary a few weeks ago, probably going back about a month now, where the province laid out all these guidelines for us,” Darby said Tuesday morning.

“In addition to this new training, we’ve also purchased some new roadside devices so that all of our members are going to actually have the tools available to them to enforce these sanctions…if you see a police car on the road, it should have the tools available to deal with these sanctions.”

He noted that the hope is to deter impaired driving, which is still a serious problem in many communities.

“I will note that, other than a criminal record, anyone having these sanctions placed upon them would have just as severe consequences as someone previous to these sanctions. So, they still have a fine, they still get their licenses taken away and they still have their vehicle seized. The only difference really today is that there’s no criminal record for that person.”

SAFEROADS ALBERTA

Prior to the launch of SafeRoads Alberta, there was the Alberta Transportation Safety Board. SafeRoads has adjudicators based in Edmonton. The new legislation will hopefully free up the court system and quicken the resolution process in an impaired driving case.

Under previous regulations, the work for a police officer has just begun if a driver pleads not guilty to an impaired driving charge. The Lethbridge Police records management unit has to compile disclosure documents for prosecutors and the investigating officer could be tied up in any ensuring court process for as much as a year or possibly longer.

Lethbridge Police will still be conducting impaired driving investigations, but Bill 21 should reduce the amount of time they need to spend on each case.

“So, any time somebody wants to appeal these roadside sanctions that we’ve placed on them, that appeal process goes through SafeRoads in Edmonton. I don’t know the exact number of adjudicators they have up there right now, but I can tell you, if someone does want to appeal to SafeRoads, they have seven days from the time these sanctions are put in place to make that appeal,” Darby explained.

“After that seven-day period is done, they have that adjudicator process within 21 days. From that point, the adjudicator has 30 days to actually make a decision [on] whether or not to overturn these sanctions.”

Darby added that he’s seen some on social media claiming that Lethbridge Police are the “judge, jury and executioner” when it comes to impaired driving charges being laid, and he wanted to clear up that misconception.

“That’s not the case here. We as a police service are just a small wheel in the cog. Although we lay the sanctions, the driver has a full opportunity to appeal that to an adjudicator who ultimately has the final say.”

More information on Bill 21 is available here.