The government confirmed $105,000 in continued funding for SADD Alberta and MADD Canada. Funding will be provided through the Alberta Traffic Safety Fund.
“MADD and SADD do good work to educate students and the public on the dangers of impaired driving and I’m pleased to continue supporting their efforts to improve safety on Alberta roads,” said Ric McIver, Minister of Transportation, in the media release.
SADD Alberta will receive $80,000 to provide resources and activities to help high school students learn about the dangers of drinking, drugs and distractions while driving, while MADD Canada will receive $25,000 to cover the cost of bringing the School Assembly Program to schools across Alberta. This program educates Grade 7 to 12 students about how to keep themselves safe in risky situations and adopt alternative solutions to driving impaired by alcohol and drugs, according to the media release.
“MADD Canada is grateful for the support of Alberta Traffic Safety Fund, which helps us deliver our School Assembly Program – with its crucial sober driving message – to middle and high school students around the province. With the support of our sponsors, we are able to engage young people in a dialogue about the risks and consequences of impaired driving, and encourage them to always make responsible choices that will keep them and their peers safe,” says Dianne Belanger, with MADD - St. Paul & Area.
In addition to the offence of impaired driving, there are separate offences of having specified prohibited levels of alcohol, cannabis or certain other drugs in the blood within two hours of driving, according to the Government of Alberta.
In Alberta, and in most other Canadian jurisdictions, a driver with a blood alcohol concentration between 0.05 and 0.079 may face provincial consequences through the Immediate Roadside Suspension Program.
Cannabis limits are measured by detecting minute traces of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in the blood stream, referred to as nanograms.
On average, 6,000 people were convicted of impaired driving in Alberta each year for the last five years (April 2015 to March 2019).
