The commander of the Olds RCMP detachment said he stands behind a resolution Alberta's police chiefs adopted earlier this month calling on the province to grant police the power to punish excessive speeders by seizing their vehicles and suspending their licences.
But Staff Sgt. Joe Sangster added he'd have to see research on the effectiveness of such a concept before giving his full support.
The Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police adopted a resolution at its spring meeting in Banff on June 12 and 13 asking the province to give police the means to “immediately seize” a vehicle driven by a person charged with driving in excess of 50 km/h over the posted speed limit and impound the vehicle for seven days, as well as the authority to suspend that person's driver's licence for seven days.
The resolution was forwarded to the provincial transportation minister along with background information pointing out that “the general public has expressed a growing concern over excessive speeding and aggressive driving” on Alberta's roads and police are observing vehicles daily driving as much as 100 km/h over the speed limit.
Speed is also a major factor in a high percentage of fatal and serious injury collisions, the association stated in the resolution, and B.C., Ontario and Quebec already have excessive speeding legislation that includes measures similar to those suggested in the resolution.
Sangster, who has served on rural and urban police forces in several provinces, said his tentative support for the resolution is based on the potential for the proposed measures to serve as a serious deterrent to those who would drive well beyond the speed limit.
“It's more consequences for the individual that's doing it and it seems like things that hit home to people is when they lose their vehicles and when they lose their driver's licence,” he said.
But before any such measures were introduced here, he added, Alberta would need to investigate the positive and negative aspects of the excessive speeding laws in other provinces.
“Something I'd want to know from Ontario and B.C., have high-speed chases increased as a result of that? Like people knowing that they're going to lose their vehicle, are they going to stop?”
The best way to combat speeding, Sangster said, is through education in the schools and on roadways.
“Us being there, us being on the highways, us educating our youth, us working with out youth trying to get them to comply rather than using a hammer.”
At the moment, the province isn't planning on amending any traffic legislation due to the association's resolution.
“We don't have any immediate plans to make changes to our current laws,” said Dan Laville, a spokesman for the provincial justice and solicitor general ministry. “That being said, we will take a careful look at the current laws in place to make sure there is enough latitude in it to seize vehicles in extreme cases.”
He also said not all the chiefs belonging to the association were behind the resolution and added Alberta's current legislation already provides tools for police to seize vehicles on the grounds of speeding, careless driving and racing.
“Between the Traffic Safety Act and the Criminal Code, at this time it feels there are several options for police to use in dealing with speeders.”
Laville added the province “does monitor what's going on in other jurisdictions” and would study statistics from B.C., Ontario and Quebec to see if excessive speeding legislation in those provinces has led to drops in injuries or deaths.
Excessive speeding legislation was introduced in Ontario in 2007, in Quebec in 2008 and in B.C. in 2010.
Bruce Rowe, MLA for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, said he has “mixed” feelings on the association's proposal, especially since it calls for such broad powers for police.
“Seizing someone's vehicle and removing their driver's licence without the due process of law is very troublesome,” he said. “Leaving it to the discretion of an officer on the highway is going a little too far, I think.”
He added, however, that he is in favour of substantial fine increases to combat the problem of excessive speeding.
That way, Rowe said, the offender still gets “their day in court” and a judge can make decisions on vehicle seizures and licence suspensions.
Sangster disagreed with Rowe's position, saying that if the association's proposal became law, the decision to seize a vehicle or suspend a licence at the side of the road doesn't belong to police, but to the government that passes such legislation.
He added measures included in the resolution are comparable to the province's impaired driving legislation where police can seize a vehicle and suspend a licence “before (offenders are) found guilty.”
