SafeRoads v. A.W.

(Alberta SafeRoads - NAP/Roadside Sanctions). The Notice of Administrative Penalty was issued to A.W. for failing/refusing to provide a breath sample on an approved screening device (roadside screening device). AW's case was likely one of the last Immediate Roadside Sanctions decisions where cancellation occurred on the basis of the Director's failure to provide calibration records relating to the "date of last annual maintenance performed" on the instrument. The reason for this is because rather than having a law that the Director and police are required to follow, the Alberta Government amended the Traffic Safety Act, SafeRoads legislation in such a manner as to alter the requirement for the Director to comply with this very simple obligation. The legislative change highlights the concern amongst many Alberta criminal lawyers and roadside sanction lawyers that the system and legal process for issuing and defending Notice of Administration Penalties is seriously gamed against the motorist.