Canadian Road Safety News Digest

June 30, 2018

How police are preparing to catch drivers under the influence of cannabis

CTV News (TORONTO, ONTARIO) With recreational marijuana set to become legal on Oct. 17, police forces across Canada are stepping up efforts to train officers to detect drivers under the influence of the drug. A new piece of legislation that changed Canada’s impaired driving laws gives police enhanced powers to conduct roadside intoxication tests, including […]

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June 26, 2018

Police can demand roadside breath sample from any driver as of December

CBC News (OTTAWA, ONTARIO) Starting later this year, Island police can ask any driver for a roadside breath sample, even if the driver does not appear to be intoxicated. The new powers come from federal Bill C-46, which received royal assent on June 21. The law goes hand-in-hand with the upcoming legalization of cannabis, and […]

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June 25, 2018

University of Alberta gets $500K for automated vehicle research

Global News (CALGARY, ALBERTA) The federal government has committed $500,000 towards the University of Alberta’s project to improve privacy of automated vehicle communications. The government said the funding will support research, studies and technology to help address technical, policy and regulatory issues related to connected and automated vehicles. Continue reading this post…

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March 27, 2018

Province announces rollout of updated impaired driving laws ahead of pot legalization

Edmonton Journal (EDMONTON, ALBERTA) Changes to Alberta’s impaired driving laws that will later include drug limits once cannabis is legalized will take effect April 9, the province announced Tuesday. The updates to the Traffic Safety Act — including a change that responds to a ruling that indefinite roadside licence suspensions are a Charter of Rights violation […]

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March 22, 2018

Senate Passes Marijuana Legalization Bill

Huffpost (OTTAWA, ONTARIO) The Senate gave approval in principle Thursday evening to the federal government’s bill to legalize recreational marijuana, after a tense few days of manoeuvring by Conservative senators hoping to derail one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s signature election promises. Bill C-45 passed at second reading by a vote of 44-29. Continue reading […]

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March 20, 2018

Toyota pauses self-driving car testing amid Uber accident probe

CBC News (TORONTO, ONTARIO) Toyota Motor Corp. said on Tuesday it will pause autonomous vehicle testing following an accident in which an Uber Technologies Inc self-driving vehicle struck and killed a woman in Tempe, Ariz. Toyota said in a statement “the incident may have an emotional effect on our test drivers. This ‘timeout’ is meant […]

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January 30, 2018

Manitoba Will Allow for Testing and Use of Autonomous Vehicles on Provincial Roads

Manitoba Post (WINNIPEG, MANITOBA) The Manitoba government will bring forward legislative amendments which would allow for testing and use of autonomous vehicles on provincial highways, Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler said in a press release. Continue reading this post…

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January 24, 2018

‘The car was driving’ says Tesla owner suspected of DUI after San Francisco crash

National Post (SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA) The driver had a blood alcohol content nearly double the legal limit and a tenuous relationship with consciousness when his car slammed into the back of a parked firetruck on San Francisco’s Bay Bridge.  Still, he became maybe the first to add a technologically advanced new entry to the list […]

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December 29, 2017

Drunk driving to be largely decriminalized in Alberta in 2018

CBC News (EDMONTON, ALBERTA) Changes are coming to the way drunk drivers are policed and prosecuted in Alberta with the provincial government set to issue a directive to police that will largely decriminalize impaired driving, CBC News has learned. Officers will be given wide discretion whether to criminally charge those who blow over the legal limit. […]

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December 20, 2017

Transport Canada makes two electronic devices mandatory for trucks and buses

December 20, 2017, Insurance Business Magazine (OTTAWA, ONTARIO) Transport Canada has passed new regulations that require commercial trucks and buses to have two electronic safety devices installed. The new regulations require electronic stability control technology on new truck tractors and heavy buses sold in Canada. Separate proposed regulations will implement mandatory electronic logging devices for […]

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October 31, 2017

Feds announce $36.4M public education campaign on legalized pot

CTV News (OTTAWA, ONTARIO) As plans to legalize marijuana move forward, the federal government is spending $36.4 million over the next five years on a marijuana education and awareness campaign. The campaign will aim to educate Canadians—youth in particular— about the health and safety risks of marijuana use, and drug-impaired driving, the government says. Continue […]

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October 25, 2017

Canadian Trucking Groups Call for Zero Tolerance as Marijuana Legalization Looms

Transport Topics (TORONTO, ONTARIO) Canadian trucking associations are calling for a zero-tolerance policy for marijuana use among drivers as the country prepares to legalize the drug for recreational purposes in July 2018. Continue reading this post…  

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August 28, 2017

Vision Zero campaign: How many road deaths are acceptable?

Montreal Gazette (MONTREAL, QUEBEC) Hoping to one day eliminate road deaths in the city, Montreal has launched a publicity campaign with a pointed question: what would be an acceptable number of road deaths in your family? In a vox-pop-type video ad, Montrealers are first asked how many road deaths would be acceptable, then asked how […]

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August 8, 2017

Lowering the (Canada-wide) legal alcohol limit to 0.05: Let’s not skip steps, CAA-Quebec warns

Newswire.ca (QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC) The federal government’s proposal to explore lowering the legal alcohol limit for drivers in a bid to improve road safety, as reported in the Montreal daily La Presse, is of course commendable. But with cannabis due to be legalized in less than a year, CAA-Quebec believes that now is not the […]

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June 24, 2017

Toronto picks road safety over speed, new poll finds

Cycle Toronto (TORONTO, ONTARIO) Eighty-one percent of Toronto residents support lower speed limits on city roads even if it means increased travel time, and 80 percent favour building a safe network of bicycle lanes, a new poll has found. The survey of 802 Torontonians, conducted by the Angus Reid Forum (owned by Maru/Matchbox), also shows […]

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June 20, 2017

Ian Mulgrew: Expanded B.C. roadside suspension policy expected to deal with drugged driving

Vancouver Sun (VANCOUVER, B.C.) Victoria is expected to amend the Immediate Roadside Prohibition scheme to include drug impairment or to create a similar anti-drug-driving program as the country legalizes marijuana next year. A broader IRP regime would prevent drug-impaired-driving charges from clogging the courts and continue the made-in-B.C. approach of treating some offences as “regulatory” […]

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April 21, 2017

Edmonton traffic safety improving, but a long road ahead: city

Global News (EDMONTON, ALBERTA) The goal of zero traffic deaths and injuries is ambitious, but on Friday the City of Edmonton said it is making inroads. Vision Zero is a strategy adopted by city council in 2015 and launched in 2016. The Vision Zero program first began in Sweden in 1997 and the city said that country now has […]

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April 13, 2017

Liberals table bills to legalize pot, clamp down on impaired driving

CBC News (OTTAWA, ONTARIO) The Liberal government has tabled legislation to end the prohibition on pot, checking off a major promise from the 2015 campaign. The pot plan comes with two new bills; one to regulate the recreational use, sale and cultivation of marijuana, and a second that strengthens measures to stop impaired driving. Continue reading […]

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March 20, 2017

Manitoba introduces Cannabis Harm Prevention Act

Government of Manitoba (WINNIPEG, MANITOBA) The Manitoba government is introducing new legislation that would be focused on harm reduction and public safety as part of its ongoing preparation for federal legalization of marijuana, Justice Minister Heather Stefanson announced today. “This legislation would be an early step by our government to target drug-impaired driving and prioritize […]

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March 15, 2017

Drug and Alcohol Roadside Survey confirms drug use by drivers: Manitoba Public Insurance

MPI (WINNIPEG, MANITOBA) One in 10 Manitoba drivers who participated in voluntary roadside surveys conducted last fall tested positive for drugs, according to findings released from the Manitoba Drug and Alcohol Roadside Survey, Crown Services Minister Ron Schuler and Manitoba Public Insurance announced today. The purpose of the study was to establish a baseline for […]

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