In the News

MADD report suggests that Alberta’s traffic safety laws need improvement
By Professors Robert Solomon and Erika Chamberlain
Faculty of Law, University of Western Ontario

According to a recent report by MADD Canada, Alberta has plenty of room to improve its driver and vehicle licensing laws.

Alberta received a grade of B- and ranked 6th overall in Rating the Provinces and Territories: The 2009 Report. This was a drop of two places from Alberta’s 4th place ranking in 2006. Alberta’s highway traffic legislation has remained relatively unchanged since 2006, while other provinces have taken bolder steps to improve traffic safety.

MADD Canada has been rating the provinces and territories since 2000. The goal of the project is to provide provincial governments with information on realistic and effective measures that will reduce impaired driving in their jurisdictions. It provides the basis of ongoing discussion on the critical role the provinces can play in reducing impaired driving. While the federal government has made some progress through recent amendments to the Criminal Code, the provinces have the opportunity to enact innovative measures through their authority over driver and vehicle licensing.

Indeed, some of the most promising initiatives of recent years have been introduced by the provinces. Every jurisdiction except Nunavut now has some form of graduated licensing program (GLP), a measure which has been shown to reduce young drivers’ crash risk by 20 to 40%. Further, Manitoba and New Brunswick have enacted .00% blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) limits for drivers under 21, and similar legislation is pending in Ontario and Nova Scotia.

Other innovative measures include Prince Edward Island’s seven-day licence suspension for drivers with BACs above .05%, and Ontario’s pending seven-day vehicle impoundment for those charged with Criminal Code impaired driving offences.

In preparing Rating the Provinces and Territories, researchers undertook a detailed analysis of impaired driving research from Canada and abroad to determine those measures that would be most effective in reducing crash deaths and injuries. This analysis formed the basis of the rating scale, against which the provinces were rated by independent experts in the field.

Alberta scored relatively well for its alcohol interlock and vehicle impoundment programs, but poorly for having the lowest licensing age (14) in the country. MADD recommends that Alberta raise its minimum licensing age to 16, and strengthen its GLP to include stricter passenger and late-night driving restrictions, and limit driving on high-speed roads. Alberta should also introduce a .00% BAC limit during the first five years of licensure.

In terms of licence suspensions, Alberta should increase its current 24-hour roadside suspension for suspected impaired drivers to at least seven days, with longer suspensions and remedial programs for repeat occurrences. The mandatory alcohol interlock program should be expanded to include all federal impaired driving offenders. Alberta should also strengthen its vehicle sanctions and remedial programs.

The need for action in Alberta is urgent. The most recent figures from the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA) indicate that the number of motor vehicle deaths in 2006 was significantly higher than in the baseline period 1996-2001. In addition, Alberta had the highest rate of fatally-injured drivers with a BAC above .08% in the country (3.44 per 100,000 licensed drivers, compared to a national rate of 1.84).

MADD Canada’s president, Margaret Miller, said that she looks forward to working with Alberta and all the provincial governments to create a safer future.

Full details of the report can be found at www.madd.ca.