SAFEROADS. v. L.S.

(Calgary, SafeRoads - Immediate Roadside Sanctions).  LS was issued a notice of administrative penalty/immediate roadside sanction for impaired operation of a motor vehicle and operating a motor vehicle with blood alcohol in excess of the legal limit in Calgary. The silver lining is that the recipient was not investigated or charged for criminal impaired driving. Though SafeRoads cases are not criminal, that is just about the only advantage for persons facing a roadside sanction. This is so because the Government has gamed SafeRoads cases against the recipient and in favour of itself.  The criminal law procedural, evidentiary and Constitutional protections are all but eviscerated.  That stark reality aside, though almost always difficult, roadside sanctions cases can still be defended by seeking cancellation of sanctions by proving on the balance of probabilities that one of the grounds for cancellation as set out in the legislation are met. LS successfully had sanctions cancelled because the police failed to provide any maintenance or calibration information with respect to the approved screening device used. David Chow is an experienced Alberta Immediate Roadside Sanctions lawyer. He has spent more than two-decades defending criminal impaired driving cases.