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Alberta introduces legislation to crack down on impaired drivers

EDMONTON — Alberta is cracking down on suspected impaired drivers with proposed legislation that calls for more mandatory vehicle seizures and licence suspensions.

EDMONTON — Alberta is cracking down on suspected impaired drivers with proposed legislation that calls for more mandatory vehicle seizures and licence suspensions.

“I have one goal for this legislation, and that is having more Albertans arrive home safe at the end of day,” Transportation Minister Ray Danyluk said Monday.

Under the proposed changes, drivers caught with over the legal limit of .08 for the first time would lose their vehicle for three days. They’d also lose their licence until the criminal charge was resolved.

They would then have to install an alcohol screening device for one year — at their own cost — to prevent their vehicle from starting if booze were detected.

Repeat offenders would have to use the alcohol screening devices for up to five years and take a remedial driving course before getting their licence back.

Danyluk called the measures the toughest in Canada.

The other major change proposed in Bill 26 calls for drivers caught with blood alcohol levels below the legal limit — from .05 to .08 — to lose their vehicles and licences for three days.

The British Columbia government is reporting a 47 per cent drop in alcohol-related motor vehicle deaths 10 months after it introduced such immediate suspensions.

The bill also calls for changes to rules governing new drivers, especially people under 18. It says novice drivers with a graduated licence would have their vehicle seized for seven days if they were found with any alcohol in their system. Their licence would be taken away for 30 days.