It's about to be more difficult to contest those traffic tickets. 

Effective February 1, Traffic Court in Alberta will see a significant overhaul. Under Bill 21, passed in July 2020, those looking to fight a traffic ticket will face a completely different system. 

With the changes, motorists will be issued a roadside ticket with a QR code that will take them to an online portal. Another change will be that some fines will be increased while demerit points will remain unchanged. 

You will no longer have 30 days to dispute a ticket, you will now have to do so within seven days and you'll need to pay a non-refundable fee to have your case heard.

Should you choose to dispute the fine, you'll need to present your case to an adjudicator over the phone or online, it is no longer an option to go in person to traffic court.

These adjudicators will not be able to reduce fines or shorten suspensions. 

If the ticket is under $299 you will have to pay a mandatory fee of $50 to dispute it. If the ticket is over $299 that fee rises to $150.

Another change to the system is they will require photo-radar vehicles to be made visible and that double ticketing of motorists within five minutes of the first one being issued be stopped

These changes are in an effort to help a backlogged court system and free up police resources by quickly moving around two million traffic tickets through the system each year.

These changes come after the changes made to impaired driving enforcement which removed cases from the court system while implementing immediate and significant penalties, mandatory education, and vehicle seizures.

Airdrie-Cochrane MLA Peter Guthrie provide comment on the subject,

“Over the past few weeks, many constituents and industry experts have expressed concern with the upcoming changes via the Justice Transformation Initiative. I have relayed their concerns to the Ministry, including the lack of disclosure, due process, and the inadvertent exclusion of those who do not have the technological and financial means of appeal. The new model was intended to create a simple, fast, efficient, and fair process that allows drivers to manage their sanctions online 24/7 with the ability to challenge a sanction within 30 days; however, I have taken the feedback received and I am currently awaiting a detailed response from the department. Thank you to all those who have contacted me and my office to outline their concerns and to provide recommendations. In lieu of additional information from the Ministry, I have asked that the initiative be delayed in order to allow time for consultation to take place.”