Alberta government delays changes to traffic ticket procedures
Posted January 26, 2022 2:30 pm.
Last Updated January 26, 2022 4:14 pm.
The Alberta government is delaying its plan to make changes to how traffic tickets are issued and appealed.
The proposed changes were supposed to come into effect on Feb. 1 and would have replaced traffic court with an online process.
According to the government, the plan was developed to try and free up court and police resources.
“Every year, more than two million traffic tickets are issued in Alberta. Of those tickets, 400,000 per year are challenged. This results in more than 60,000 challenges to traffic tickets per year receive court dates,” said Alberta Transportation Minister Rajan Sawhney and Acting Minister of Justice and Solicitor General Sonya Savage in a joint statement on Wednesday.
They say this would mean the province’s justice system dedicates 10 courtrooms per day to traffic tickets.
“The traffic tickets clogging up our courts create real-world consequences for Albertans.”
The province says it will be putting the changes on hold for the next 90 to 120 days.
