Impaired Driving

  • The True Cost of a DUI in Alberta

    ByShannon Gunn Emery Hours

    A DUI in Alberta has major financial, legal, and personal consequences. You may face vehicle impoundment, loss of income, fines, legal fees, increased insurance rates, and long-term impacts on your family and future. Understanding these costs can help you make informed decisions and protect your rights. Being charged with impaired driving in Alberta is more than just an inconvenience; it can affect nearly every part of your life. You may be facing immediate penalties, financial strain, and lasting consequences that will follow you for years. If you are dealing with a Notice of Administrative Penalty or a DUI charge, you should understand what lies ahead and how these costs can add up quickly. 1. Immediate Consequences: Vehicle Impoundment Once you receive a Notice of Administrative…

  • 5 Things to Know If You’re Pulled Over for a DUI

    ByShannon Gunn Emery Hours

    If you get pulled over for a suspected DUI, stay calm. You should record the interaction if it is safe to do so, give the police your required identification, use your right to remain silent for any other questions, answer honestly about your last drink, and take the roadside breath test. These steps help protect you until you can speak with a lawyer. Being pulled over for a Driving Under the Influence (DUI) is stressful and intimidating. If this happens, you may not know what to say or how to act. Understanding your rights and responsibilities can keep a difficult situation from becoming much worse. Here is what you should do and what you should avoid during a DUI stop in Alberta. 1. Start Recording…

  • What to Expect After a DUI Charge in Alberta

    ByShannon Gunn Emery Hours

    If you are charged with impaired driving in Alberta, you may face both criminal charges and administrative penalties. You have only seven days to respond to an administrative penalty, so acting quickly with the help of an experienced lawyer is crucial. Facing a DUI in Alberta Alberta’s impaired driving system is complicated and knowing what to expect is key to protecting both your rights and your future. Criminal Charge or Administrative Penalty? The first step is figuring out whether you received a criminal charge, an administrative penalty, or both. Many first-time DUI cases now result in administrative penalties only, but it is possible to face both systems at once. Act Fast—You May Have Only Seven Days to Respond If you received an administrative penalty, you…

  • What Happens to Your Insurance After a DUI in Alberta?

    ByShannon Gunn Emery Hours

    If you’ve recently received a Notice of Administrative Penalty or been charged with impaired driving in Alberta, it’s natural to feel relieved that you weren’t criminally prosecuted—especially if this is your first offence and no accident occurred. Alberta’s approach to first-time impaired driving cases has shifted in recent years, with many cases now falling under the SafeRoads Alberta administrative regime rather than the Criminal Code. But while the legal system may offer some leniency, insurance providers often do not. Insurance after DUI in Alberta can come with significant and long-lasting financial consequences. Premiums often rise dramatically, coverage may be cancelled, and the impact can last for years—regardless of whether the charge is criminal or administrative. To better understand what to expect from your insurer after…

  • Understanding Alberta’s 2025 Impaired Driving Reform

    ByShannon Gunn Emery Hours

    Impaired Driving Reform: What New Policing Rules Means for Drivers Effective March 10, 2025, drivers in Strathcona County, Alberta may face significant legal consequences if they are stopped for a traffic violation and are found to be impaired. Under newly expanded enforcement powers, Community Peace Officers (CPOs) now have the authority to request roadside breath samples during lawful traffic stops. This development is part of a broader shift in how Alberta handles impaired driving, driven by its focus on administrative rather than criminal penalties. While the Alberta Government ponders the creation of its own police force, over the last 18 months, municipalities such as Strathcona County have been increasingly employing sheriffs and peace officers to take over responsibilities once the exclusive domain of fully trained…

  • IRS NetLetter Alberta – Legal Insights on Impaired Driving

    ByShannon Gunn Emery Hours

    IRS NetLetter Alberta – Legal Insights on Impaired Driving Gunn Law Group has found a unique way to ring in the new year. Starting in January 2025, once a month, the lawyers at Gunn Law Group will be collaborating to offer the public an IRS NetLetter addressing the evolution of impaired driving law in Alberta. An IRS refers to an Immediate Roadside Sanction, also known as a Notice of Administrative Penalty (NAP). As most of you know, in Alberta, a driver who is stopped for the first time on an allegation of an alcohol-related driving offence will not normally receive criminal charges unless there was an accident or some other significant aggravating circumstance. Usually, the person will receive an administrative sanction which can be appealed….

  • What My Husband Bought Me For Christmas

    ByShannon Gunn Emery Hours

    Christmas is over but some gifts keep on giving. Last Christmas, I asked my husband for an important gift. I wanted a dash cam for my vehicle. If you have listened to our podcast entitled, “Why SafeRoads Does Not Make Me Feel Safe,” you might be able to guess why. If a person is stopped by a police officer, especially if it is in RCMP territory, chances are that there is an audio and video recording going on the whole time. Many of our clients often express their desire to review the video evidence in their case, as they believe it could substantiate key aspects such as: instances of potential police misconduct, challenges in providing a breath sample, discrepancies between recorded results and officer reports,…

  • Outside the 7-day appeal for the impaired charge? Here is hope!

    ByShannon Gunn Emery Hours

    Getting stopped for a DUI never happens at a good moment. However, sometimes, it happens at a time when you just aren’t able to deal with it. Unfortunately, the IRS scheme waits for no one. If you got an Immediate Roadside Sanction for impaired driving (by alcohol or a drug), refusal, or failure to provide samples, you are expected to start your appeal within seven days. If you don’t, you will have to make an application to apply for late review. When the SafeRoads regime first came into being, my assumption was that those late reviews were going to be easy to get. It would enhance the look of fairness, apart from actually being fair. And I feel like that was the case, but then…

  • New Impaired Driving Laws in Alberta for 2020

    ByShannon Gunn Emery Hours

    Have you heard about the new impaired driving laws in Alberta? Are you confused? You’re not the only ones! Hi, I’m Shannon Gunn Emery, one of the lawyers with Gunn Law in Alberta, and we are here to help you with everything impaired driving related. If you were charged… “charged”, after December 1st, 2020 you may have a lot of questions! You aren’t actually “charged” but you are really “accused”. And you’re accused in a very unpleasant way, in that, unless you successfully appeal that immediate roadside sanction that you were given, you are going to be treated as if you were charged and convicted after a trial and given all the same penalties but without the trial, but also without the criminal record. You…

  • Future of the Law on Impaired Driving in Alberta

    ByShannon Gunn Emery Hours

    On June 4, the Alberta government announced that it intends to dramatically change the laws on impaired driving in Alberta. If passed, the new laws would take effect towards the end of this year. Many clients have been calling and wondering if the new law might affect their outstanding charges. It won’t. The new law will, however, have a dramatic effect on those stopped and investigated for impaired driving in the new year. There is much in the proposed legislation to make a defence lawyer shiver. Make no mistake! The presumption of innocence is under attack, as are the right to counsel and the right to make full answer and defense. Under the current legislation, an officer can randomly stop any vehicle he or she…

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