Table of contents
- Increasing access to justice for Albertans
- Keeping Alberta’s tax laws up to date
- Modernizing compensation governance
- Protecting Albertans’ pensions
- Protecting Alberta’s tax advantage
- Providing clarity on public health order decisions
- Streamlining professional governance laws
- Modernizing Alberta’s electricity system
- Implementing red tape reduction
- Modernizing condominium laws
- Enabling energy rebates
- Providing Albertans extra job protection
- Diversifying Alberta’s insurance sector
- Reforming teacher profession discipline processes
- Enhancing sexual assault law education
- Innovating the finance sector
- Making trust laws more efficient
- Transforming continuing care
- Protecting the health of women and girls
- Strengthening public’s right to know
- Designating Alberta's official gemstone
- Protecting roadside workers
- Delivering certainty for public health rules
- Recognizing special days
- Implementing Budget 2022
- Recognizing the Platinum Jubilee
- Renaming Calgary constituency
- Putting students first
- Improving Alberta’s waste management
- Protecting and preserving Alberta’s outdoors
- Improving the affordable housing system
- Restoring tax accountability
- Upholding the value of artists to Alberta
- Strengthening infrastructure planning
- COVID-19 civil liability protection
- Modernizing post-secondary education
- Modernizing public health laws
- Empowering citizen initiatives
- Holding elected officials accountable
- Improving child care
- Establishing the Heroes' Fund
- Strengthening the financial sector
- Financing transportation projects
- Modernizing justice and policing
- Attracting job creating investment
- Improving public health care
- Restoring balance in Alberta’s workplaces
- Strengthening democracy in Alberta
- Making Alberta roads safer
- Strengthening mental health care
- Creating an Alberta Parole Board
- Supporting victims of crime and public safety
- Alberta Sovereignty within a United Canada Act
- Strengthening Alberta’s justice system
- Introducing the Alberta Firearms Act
- Protecting property rights
- Protecting survivors of human trafficking
- Modernizing Alberta's Police Act
- Preserving Canada's economic prosperity
- Protecting critical infrastructure
- Carbon tax repeal
- Job Creation Tax Cut
- Public sector wage arbitration deferral
- Alberta Senate Election Act
Status: The Traffic Safety Amendment Act, 2022 received Royal Assent on April 21, 2022
Ministry responsible: Ministry of Transportation
Overview
The Traffic Safety Amendment Act, 2022 (formerly Bill 5) strengthens safety measures to better protect all first responders and roadside workers on Alberta’s highways.
The act requires motorists to slow down, when passing all roadside workers, when vehicle lights are flashing and they are stopped on the highway.
This change gives snowplow operators and roadside maintenance teams the same legislated protection as first responders, tow truck operators and construction crews. Having consistent traffic rules for all roadside workers also reduces confusion for motorists and increases highway safety. There were 128 collisions with highway snowplows between March 2018 and March 2021. Alberta Motor Association also reported 25 near misses and 3 serious collisions with their service vehicles between January 2018 and July 2019.
The act follows recommendations heard from the public and stakeholders during the roadside worker safety engagement held in spring 2021.
Key changes
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August 2, 2023
Changes to the Traffic Safety Amendment Act, 2022 amended the Provincial Offences Procedure Act and Traffic Safety Act so that:
- vehicles in the lane closest to a stopped roadside worker vehicle with its flashing lights activated on multi-lane highways must move over to the next lane, if it’s safe to do so
- if it is not safe to move over, vehicles must slow down to 60 km/h or the posted speed limit (whichever is lower)
- only vehicles on the same side of single lane highways as a stopped roadside worker vehicle with its flashing lights activated must slow down to 60 km/h or the posted speed limit (whichever is lower)
Traffic Safety Act – Orders in Council
Provincial Offences Procedure Act – Orders in Council
Learn more about changes to roadside worker safety rules.
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April 21, 2022
The Traffic Safety Amendment Act, 2022 amends the Traffic Safety Act to:
- extend safe passing protections for roadside workers to include snowplow operators and roadside maintenance teams
- clarify that when a vehicle is stopped with its flashing lights operating, motorists are required to:
- slow down to 60 km/h or the posted speed limit, whichever is lower, in all lanes traveling in the same direction on multi-lane highways; and
- slow down to 60 km/h or the posted speed limit, whichever is lower, when traveling in either direction on single lane highways.
Next steps
The Traffic Safety Amendment Act, 2022 takes effect on proclamation.
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