Written By: Ravi Prithipaul

If you are facing an impaired driving charge in Alberta, it is important to understand the grounds for your arrest, the charges laid, and potential consequences of a conviction. Ravi Prithipaul, impaired driving lawyer in Alberta, outlines these briefly below.Grounds for arrest

If the police have a reasonable suspicion that you have alcohol or a drug in your body, and that you have driven or had the care or control of a vehicle within the previous three hours, you can be detained and required to submit to some form of “screening”, whether by means of an “approved screening device” (ASD) or sobriety test. Indicators of reasonable suspicions include:

• Glossy or bloodshot eyes;
• Flushed face;
• Slurred speech;
• An odour of alcohol on your breath;
• An admission of drinking;
• Stumbling or incoherent comments;
• Difficulty standing or other coordination difficulties;
• Empty alcohol containers in the vehicle;
• Witnesses’ observations about how much you drank;
• Unusual driving, such as speeding, failing to obey traffic control devices, swerving or weaving;
• Involvement in a motor vehicle accident.

Once the police demand that a motorist comply with a screening test (either by means of an ASD or a field sobriety evaluation), the individual must comply. The result of the test may indicate that the person is impaired or over the legal limit. The most common example arises when a person produces a “fail” reading on an ASD. At that point, the police will generally have reasonable grounds to arrest, and demand that the subject supply samples of breath (or blood in cases where it is not “practicable” or feasible to obtain breath) for a more detailed blood-alcohol analysis. In the case of drug-impaired motorists, the individual may be required to submit to an evaluation by an evaluation officer. The evaluating officer can also make a demand for a blood or urine sample.

What if you weren’t driving?

You can be arrested and prosecuted for impaired driving even if you weren’t actually driving. The law forbids drug and alcohol influenced driving as well as “care and control” of a vehicle. The most common form of illegal care or control conduct occurs when a person who is intoxicated is sitting in the driver’s seat, or elsewhere in the vehicle, with the potential to drive. However, care or control refers to any situation where a person, by reason of their impairment, interacts with a vehicle in such a way that it creates a risk of danger.

You can also be arrested and charged with an offence, even if you were not actually driving or in care or control, if you refuse to comply with a demand to provide breath, blood, or to submit to sobriety tests. Police demands are legal as long as they are based on reasonable suspicions or beliefs. As such, they must be complied with and it is not a defence to a charge of failure or refusal to comply that you were not, in reality, driving or in care or control. You must still comply with the police officer’s demand.

What if you refuse testing?

The consequence of refusal to comply with a police demand to submit to alcohol or drug testing can be more serious than if you were found guilty of driving while impaired by alcohol and/or a drug, or driving with a blood-alcohol level in excess of the legal limit. In fact, failing to cooperate can lead to harsher criminal penalties because the fines for failing or refusing to blow are higher than for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and a person can also be convicted both refusal and impaired driving or care or control.