When Cpl. Al Nickolson looks back at decades of policing it's the drunk driving deaths that haunt him almost more than anything.
“I'm the guy that's gotta go tell them at 2 o'clock in the morning that their son's dead,” he says, recalling one incident where an oilfield worker rolled his vehicle not far from his parents' driveway. “We want people to go out and enjoy themselves, but get home safely.”
Through the months of September and October Innisfail Integrated Traffic laid six impaired driving charges in the Innisfail detachment region. So far, under new legislation that came into play Sept. 1, four three-day suspensions have been issued in the same area, in addition to the criminal charges.
Drivers have their car impounded for three days the first time they are found to have over 50 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of their blood during roadside breath tests. Their licence is also suspended for three days.
Drivers who blow over .08 are charged immediately and their licence is suspended until the resolution of their criminal charge.
The QEII swells from about 30,000 vehicles a day at Didsbury to 41,000 past Olds towards Innisfail. Even someone who is slightly inebriated can be a lethal weapon in such an environment, according to police.
“We're just looking at public safety,” Nickolson said. “Why do we have drinking and driving laws? Because people that are impaired kill people. We've seen enough of this on the highway.”
In September police also upgraded their breath test equipment, from the old Intoxilyzer 400D to the new Alco-Sensor FST, which reduces the margin of error officers have to figure in to their roadside assessments. Each car is outfitted with two FST units since drivers are allowed to request a second breath test.
“We've got more tools to make our road safer,” he said. “The technology's getting a lot more accurate.”
Overall the tougher penalties for alcohol-consuming motorists are about changing public attitudes towards drinking and driving, he said.
“In rural Alberta it seems to be the normal thing for people to go drinking and driving,” he said. “It's just part of that culture, and it's something that's changing.”
He compares the strengthening of drunk driving legislation in the country to bringing in new seatbelt legislation in the second half of the 20th century, when Alberta followed B.C.'s lead in that case, as well.
Certain types of sanctions and penalties have proven to be more effective in getting drunk drivers off the road says Andrew Murie, CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada.
“British Columbia put similar types of measures in place, and from Sept. 2010 to Sept. 2011 they had a 40 per cent decrease in alcohol-related deaths,” he said. “Losing your vehicle, we've figured out, is one of those trigger points that makes people say, that's not worth it to me.”
The additional headache that comes with blowing over .05 contributes to the impact of the new law, Murie says.
“It makes it complex,” he said. “It makes it very difficult to explain. It's very expensive as well.”
