Alberta DUI Laws

• DUI laws in Alberta apply to all motor vehicles and not just cars.Bottle with alcohol and wine-glasses image by Oleg Guryanov from Fotolia.com
  
  Driving under the influence, or DUI, is illegal in Alberta, Canada. The law is applied to a person driving any motor vehicle, which includes airplanes, boats and snowmobiles, and applies to alcohol as well as other mind-altering substances--whether they are legal or not. DUI laws in Alberta cover three main areas.
  
  

Impaired Driving

• In Alberta, impairment is defined by the physical symptoms an arresting officer observes at the scene when a driver is suspected of being intoxicated. Some signs of impairment that the court will consider in determining DUI are bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, erratic and/or illegal driving patterns before the stop and the smell of alcohol.
  
  

Blood-Alcohol Level

• If it is determined by a blood test that a driver has a blood alcohol level that exceeds 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood, then per DUI laws in Alberta, the driver will be charged with driving under the influence. Impaired driving and driving with illegal blood-alcohol levels are considered alternate charges, and a person will be charged with one or the other but not both.
  
  

Refusal to Test

• Alberta DUI laws allow an officer with reasonable suspicions to demand that a driver undergo a roadside screening, blow in a breath tester or submit a blood sample. If a driver refuses to do these things, without having a "reasonable excuse," he will be charged with driving under the influence.