Alberta Sheriffs removed nearly 1,500 impaired drivers from Alberta’s highways in 2022, including a few who were drunk and driving almost twice the posted speed limit.
An impaired 39-year-old woman was charged after driving 189 km/h in a 110 km/h zone on Highway 16 near Stony Plain.
An impaired 33-year-old man drove 195 km/h in a 110 km/h zone on Highway 63 near Crow Lake. He had a graduated driver’s licence requiring a zero alcohol reading and failed a roadside breath test. He was also unlawfully at large and wanted for parole violations.
Sheriff Highway Patrol Insp. Jason Delaney said those were just a couple of the impaired motorists caught driving extreme speeds.
He said the lull in bad driving seen during COVID is over.
“Things are getting back to normal. The high speeds are more prevalent again and the aggressive driving behaviours are continuing,” Delaney said.
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In July 2021, the province increased the authority of Alberta Sheriffs to allow the Sheriff Highway Patrol to investigate impaired driving and other criminal offences on provincial highways.
Since then, a total of 2,224 impaired drivers have been removed from highways by Alberta Sheriffs, or four every day.
“Expanding the sheriffs’ authorities has alleviated pressure for policing in rural Alberta, giving those officers more time to respond to urgent calls and provide the flexibility to keep our communities safer,” said Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services Mike Ellis, in a statement.
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The Sheriff Highway Patrol’s enforcement priorities also include distracted driving and commercial vehicle safety. In 2022, sheriffs wrote 66,326 tickets related to offences in those areas and other traffic regulations.
Sheriffs operate 17 vehicle inspection stations on major transportation routes and 24 mobile inspection stations in areas throughout the province. Eighty commercial drivers were apprehended exceeding Alberta’s zero-tolerance standards for drug and alcohol use behind the wheel of commercial vehicles since 2021.
