The Ignition Interlock Device in Alberta

Alberta had the highest score in all of the Canadian provinces when it comes to the Ignition Interlock system. As far as the specifications of the device go, they are standard to what the company and law officials wish they would be. The device issues a warning if the BAC is over .02 but lower than .04 and the car is not allowed to start. One of the things that is left to be desired is the fact that law officials cannot force the driver to keep the device longer than the minimum time required by the court. So sometimes the drivers have yet to prove that they are not a threat to the population, but they can`t legally keep the device on the car.

There are a few flaws in the program even though it was ranked the best in the nation. The first one is the fact that most of the time, the program is done on a voluntary basis. When there are special circumstances, they can require the device to be installed on the offender`s car. But the program doesn`t necessarily extend to the offenders who caused someone to die or be injured, which is a matter that was raised.

There`s also a problem when the person cannot afford to pay for the device`s installation and maintenance. The Alberta Ignition Interlock program doesn`t have a solution to that problem yet which sometimes makes it tough to implement the program fully. The police is actively trying to help implement the program, they are trained to recognize if the device is well-connected and if they are working properly. This is a big help, even though not every police officer checks the cars.

^{Source: http://madd.ca/english/research/interlock2008.pdf}