An Immediate Roadside Sanction (IRS) is a penalty that can be imposed on a driver suspected of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
IRS is a type of administrative penalty enforced by police officers at the roadside, without the need for a court hearing. An IRS can result in a driver’s license suspension, fines and additional penalties.
If you are facing an IRS, it is critical to immediately speak with an experienced lawyer at Roulston Urquhart Criminal Defence to understand your rights and options moving forward. We can provide you with the necessary guidance and support to navigate the time sensitive appeals process. Our experienced team typically responds to your Notice of Appeal within 24 hours and will work to preserve your ability to drive.
In Alberta, an individual’s blood alcohol concentration is the determining factor of whether fully licensed drivers will be faced with a DUI versus an IRS. If your blood alcohol concentration is shown to be within 0.05 and 0.079, the IRS will apply. IRS is the Immediate Roadside Sanctions Program. This means you will receive a Notice of Administrative Penalty under section 88.03 of the Traffic Safety Act by IRS: WARN Program. If your blood alcohol concentration is 0.08 or higher, you may be charged with a DUI. This is a federal offence.
The consequences of an IRS and DUI are significantly different. For an IRS, the individual is not criminally charged. Instead, there are three levels of sanctions which increase in severity if there are repeat occurrences. While the first occurrence may result in an immediate seizure of your driver’s license and vehicle for three days, the third occurrence requires a thirty-day driver’s license suspension, vehicle seizure for seven days and a mandatory enrollment in the IMPACT program. A DUI charge is greater in severity and includes the potential for a criminal record charge. The other consequences may include paying a reinstatement fee, a Federal Driving Prohibition, remedial education course, completion of a road test, and the Mandatory Ignition Interlock Program.
The term IRS Suspension refers to the Immediate Roadside Suspension Program. This applies only to incidents on or before November 30, 2020. Individuals included in this program are those that the police had reasonable grounds to believe had a blood alcohol concentration between 0.05 and 0.079 while operating a vehicle. This program measured whether the individual was a repeat offender since September 1, 2012. There were three levels of sanctions which increased in severity if there were repeat occurrences. The first occurrence may have resulted in an immediate seizure of your driver’s license and vehicle for three days. If this was an individual’s second offence since September 1, 2012, the penalty increased. This may have included seizure of the driver’s vehicle for seven days, an immediate 15-day driver’s license suspension and enrollment in the Crossroads course for a remedial education requirement. Lastly, if it was the individuals third occurrence, a thirty-day driver’s license suspension would have been implemented, the vehicle seized for seven days and mandatory enrollment in the IMPACT program.
As previously mentioned, the IRS Suspension Program was discontinued November 30, 2020. It has since been replaced by the Immediate Roadside Sanctions (IRS) Program named IRS: WARN. This new program will apply if your blood alcohol concentration is shown to be within 0.05 and 0.079. This means you will receive a Notice of Administrative Penalty under section 88.03 of the Traffic Safety Act by IRS: WARN Program. For an IRS, the individual may not be criminally charged.
If you are a first-time offender without a criminal record for impaired driving, the police have the discretion to not lay a criminal charge. Instead, you may only receive an administrative sanction, known as the Immediate Roadside Sanction (“IRS”) Fail Ignition Interlock Program. As a result, you would:
To appeal the 15-month suspension of your driver’s license, you have only 7 days to obtain, complete and file a notice of appeal with the Alberta Traffic Safety Board. If you did not file your notice of appeal within 7 days of receiving the suspension, your license will be suspended automatically for the full 15 months.
1019 13th Ave. SW
Calgary, Alberta
T2R 0L5
