Alberta to change licences come spring

[jampack]

https://globalnews.ca/news/9158691/alberta-licence-change-spring-2022/

Sorry everyone, I'd be honest, I've been waiting for this for the last 18 years. LOL.

[ExtraSlow]

Reduced red tape works for me. I have a kid turning 14 next year.

[killramos]

As a corollary to this.

Can we revoke, like, way more peoples licenses?

Traffic cops should have a quota for license revocations.

[ExtraSlow]

Can we get the sheriffs out there giving out more dangerous driving tickets, running a red light etc, and not missing a single court date?
Fewer larger tickets should be revenue neutral-ish. And hell, I'm not against traffic fine revenue. I love voluntary taxation.

[16hypen3sp]

No class 4 road test? So just a knowledge test?

I know lots of people still on GDL so this is good news for them.

[SJW]

Can we get the sheriffs out there giving out more dangerous driving tickets, running a red light etc, and not missing a single court date?
Fewer larger tickets should be revenue neutral-ish. And hell, I'm not against traffic fine revenue. I love voluntary taxation.

People should just get the fuck outta my way.

[Manhattan]

My 19 year gamble has finally paid off. Nice tidy profit of 150 bones baby! :clap:

[ExtraSlow]

My 19 year gamble has finally paid off. Nice tidy profit of 150 bones baby! :clap:
109108

[zechs]

Can we get the sheriffs out there giving out more dangerous driving tickets, running a red light etc, and not missing a single court date?
Fewer larger tickets should be revenue neutral-ish. And hell, I'm not against traffic fine revenue. I love voluntary taxation.

Red light tickets should only be if the province standardizes red light times. Fucking Edmonton is crazy, the lights go from green to red in a heartbeat.

But dangerous driving needs to be the focus. I saw a paddywagon officer pull someone over for driving like a complete retard and he was like yelling at them for some stupid shit they pulled. Was a beautiful thing.

[shakalaka]

So people with GDL that never bothered with the 'full' license will now automatically get one?

[killramos]

So people with GDL that never bothered with the 'full' license will now automatically get one?

The program is going away. So yea.

[firebane]

So what are corporations going to implement instead? Many places wouldn't hire drivers with GDL licenses but since that is gone... now what?

And now it seems I can get my Class 4 without a road test so.. why not?

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

Fuck $150 wasted a decade ago.

[BokCh0y]

The program is going away. So yea.

Yeeee this is great news as my wife has had her GDL for 5 years and doesn't want to do the 2nd test. Saves us $150 too haha.

[ExtraSlow]

So what are corporations going to implement instead? They'll have to just say no learners permit, must be a minimum age (usually 18) and probably have to go back to reviewing drivers abstract.

[jampack]

So people with GDL that never bothered with the 'full' license will now automatically get one?


The program is going away. So yea.

So I don't think it's "going away". It's taking a revamp which I think what may happen is that they will just get rid of the advanced road test. You will still have probationary period of 2 years after you pass your Class 5 and that on the 2nd year, you'll have to not get any tickets or violations to get fully licensed after. You just won't have to do advanced road test. If you do get ticket, they can extend your probational period. So it seems like there will still be GDL of some sort.

At least that's how I understood it from the article. I honestly think that makes more sense.

[ExtraSlow]

2 years from learners permit at 14, orrrrrr?

[16hypen3sp]

So what are corporations going to implement instead? Many places wouldn't hire drivers with GDL licenses but since that is gone... now what?

And now it seems I can get my Class 4 without a road test so.. why not?

This whole change is quite interesting.

The Class 4 change was done to attract more rideshare competition. You need to still do an enhanced knowledge test, drivers medical and vision test. Every time you renew your license, you'd need to complete those requirements, just like now.

An additional road test will no longer be mandatory to obtain a Class 4 driver’s licence, which is required to transport passengers in taxis, ride-share vehicles, limousines, small buses and ambulances. An enhanced knowledge test, driver medical and vision test will still be required to obtain a Class 4 licence. With this change, Alberta’s government hopes to attract more competition to the ride-sharing industry.

Also, you have to be 12 month violation free in order to upgrade.

AB Gov news release here:
https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=84678F84E0604-E7ED-877B-955F92FBC073BA66

[jampack]

2 years from learners permit at 14, orrrrrr?

2 Years from passing and getting Class 5.

[dirtsniffer]

no tickets for 12 months before getting out of GDL. guess I will be on my best behavior until then... or plead not guilty for something and hope it doesn't show up until after the spring.

[ExtraSlow]

Ahhh, I didn't understand. So GDL will still exist, but it "graduates" to regular class 5 automatically after the 2 year time period?

[Manhattan]

In all seriousness, $150 compounded at 10% (assuming you put it into an index fund) over 19 years is now over $800. That's a good chunk of change.

[schocker]

no tickets for 12 months before getting out of GDL. guess I will be on my best behavior until then... or plead not guilty for something and hope it doesn't show up until after the spring.
It should just be for the final year of probation so you should be good

GDL drivers must have no suspensions or traffic violations within their last 12 months of probation, including zero tolerance for any alcohol and/or drug consumption.
This is kind of what it should have always been.

I've been waiting for this for 16 years though and finally it paid off.

[jampack]

no tickets for 12 months before getting out of GDL. guess I will be on my best behavior until then... or plead not guilty for something and hope it doesn't show up until after the spring.

So I think the no ticket part only applies if you're still in the probationary period. So after getting class 5, you have 2 year probationary period. On the 2nd year, you need to make sure you don't get any violations.

I don't think it'll matter anymore if you've been a GDL for the last 19 years lol

- - - Updated - - -


Ahhh, I didn't understand. So GDL will still exist, but it "graduates" to regular class 5 automatically after the 2 year time period?

From their statement, sounds like it yes.


In all seriousness, $150 compounded at 10% (assuming you put it into an index fund) over 19 years is now over $800. That's a good chunk of change.

Haha true.

[Tik-Tok]

I don't care one way or the other about the GDL, but this quote from the article made me laugh.


They have to be on probation for two years, so those two years should sort out if there are any issues with those drivers, whether it’s traffic violations or drug and alcohol.

Yep, two years of not getting caught totally straightens new drivers out.

[max_boost]

Can we test/retest old ppl instead. Lots of money there for sure

[ExtraSlow]

Buster isn't going to like that extra hassle.

[firebane]

Can we test/retest old ppl instead. Lots of money there for sure

I saw a guy get out of a car and almost fell over. Grabbed his can and could hardly walk with it.

If you can barely walk with a cane how can you possibly think you can or should be driving.

[ExtraSlow]

In all seriousness, old people may be shitty drivers, but most of them don't drive much, and consequently the total accidents are not high.

[max_boost]

In all seriousness, old people may be shitty drivers, but most of them don't drive much, and consequently the total accidents are not high.

Is that a good argument. I’m not sure.

[mr2mike]

In all seriousness, old people may be shitty drivers, but most of them don't drive much, and consequently the total accidents are not high.

In my opinion, insurance for poor driver's isn't high enough. I recall in high school, some people not being able to afford insurance due to too many infractions and had to put their car away for a bit or get a motorbike.
Appears this rarely happens anymore. You can't tell me a new to Canada driver can afford high insurance after a few accidents?

This would reduce the idiot moves I see on a daily basis and I don't even drive that much.

[flipstah]

My 19 year gamble has finally paid off. Nice tidy profit of 150 bones baby! :clap:

With inflation, that's sorta a win?

[msommers]

To think of all those that failed the road test and had to pay more than once LOL

My wife finally got hers last month since I've been bugging her for so long. Looks like dinner is on me soon :rofl:

[shakalaka]

Yea my wife never got her full GDL after getting the initial one like 15 yrs ago. I kept telling her to go get the official one but never bothered. I guess she doesn't have to now.

[bjstare]

To think of all those that failed the road test and had to pay more than once LOL

My wife finally got hers last month since I've been bugging her for so long. Looks like dinner is on me soon :rofl:

You keep finances separate from your spouse?


trollface.jpg

[vengie]

I'd like to see mandatory retesting every 5 years.

[ExtraSlow]

and snipers.

[vengie]

Always snipers, kids these days are too cocky

[Doozer]

One other side effect - those on GDL can't drive with a learner. Have to have a full license. A lot of those GDLs will get flipped and now be legally allowed to supervise their kids, spouses, etc, as learners.

This is the situation with my neighbors, the hubby has a GDL (unsure how long he's had it, but more than 2yrs), and wife just got her learners. She couldn't even drive with him so they had to pay for drivers training just to get her behind the wheel. Conversely, I've already been out with my 14yr old and didn't have to pay a dime to get him some wheel time.

As someone who got my license back in the early 90s before any sort of GDL, it's pretty crazy to think that I got my full license on the day of my 16th birthday and was driving around from then on with absolutely no different rules than anyone else.

[killramos]

It’s not like the GDL had any real different rules anyway.

The whole program was a joke, that’s why no one upgraded.

[vengie]

The people who didn't bother to get their non GDL are the same people who don't return their shopping carts to the corral.

[dirtsniffer]

65% of people don't return their carts to the corral?

[mr2mike]

I'm surprised how many GDL driver's we have here.
Figured most of you had a license before this happened.

[ExtraSlow]

Damned kids.

[SKR]

In all seriousness, $150 compounded at 10% (assuming you put it into an index fund) over 19 years is now over $800. That's a good chunk of change.

Being able to look down on adult-aged people with a child's license is worth more than $800 though.

[CompletelyNumb]

I'd like to see mandatory retesting every 5 years.

:thumbsup:

We need stricter controls to getting a drivers license (and keeping it) in Canada.

Mandatory testing. Mandatory defensive driving course. Mandatory winter driving course.

[suntan]

Let's be honest it's just us coloured folks that need the extra training.

[Misterman]

As a corollary to this.

Can we revoke, like, way more peoples licenses?

Traffic cops should have a quota for license revocations.

As long as it's correlated pretty strongly to real issues. Last thing I want to see is a bunch of perfectly safe drivers losing their licenses for 20km/h over the limit fines. But if you can't use turn signals, can't stay off FB, can't merge at adequate highway speed, etc. Yeah fuck ya then, you can use Uber to get around.

[killramos]

I had the misfortune of being in Edmonton all weekend, and watched someone drive 3 blocks against active traffic the wrong way down gateway.

That person should never drive again.

That sort of thing.

Oh. And the dignleberries who stop with their hazards on in the no stopping lane DT today while a line do cars is honking at them. That person might warrant some level of torture as well.

[Misterman]

I'm surprised how many GDL driver's we have here.
Figured most of you had a license before this happened.

No kidding. Everyone talking about 15 years this and that. I'm like "WTF? Didn't GDL just come out 5 years ago?" Didn't have none of that in 1996.

[redline]

Let's be honest it's just us coloured folks that need the extra training.

That’s racist …

[redline]

:thumbsup:

We need stricter controls to getting a drivers license (and keeping it) in Canada.

Mandatory testing. Mandatory defensive driving course. Mandatory winter driving course.

This …

But I sense if this happened there would be freedom protests every 20mins

[vengie]

Driving is a privelage, not a right.

[mr2mike]

Driving is a privelage, not a right.

Too many seem to have that privelage without respecting what they have.
I'd love a license plate societal score. Enough people ding you with points within a certain period of time. License gone!
Everyone only gets 10pts a month to doll out to morons on the road.
Basically a group vote.

[jwslam]

65% of people don't return their carts to the corral?
That number is stupidly low unless Costco was excluded as an extremity

[zechs]

it's pretty crazy to think that I got my full license on the day of my 16th birthday and was driving around from then on with absolutely no different rules than anyone else.

Why?

[shakalaka]

I'm surprised how many GDL driver's we have here.
Figured most of you had a license before this happened.

I vividly remember back in 2003 when this law was first announced, I had just turned 16 and I got my regular license some 8 days before the change was to come into place. lol

[Type_S1]

That’s racist …

I don’t know how this anecdotal data correlates and am not suggesting anything, however, in my experience the large majority of the time someone is driving like a complete retard on Deerfoot they end up exiting on McKnight Eastbound.

In regards to the GDL, good - the whole idea of a GDL was stupid anyways. They just need to have much stronger restrictions to who actually obtains a license and also for who keeps licenses.

[jampack]

I vividly remember back in 2003 when this law was first announced, I had just turned 16 and I got my regular license some 8 days before the change was to come into place. lol

I was in a different boat in a way that I got my license a couple of weeks AFTER the change. I was around same age but it didn't really matter to me as I just wanted to pass and get my license lol.

The GDL letters on the license won't matter to me until my son turns 14 which is not for another 6 years. It is stupid because you can still drive anywhere, in the US and other countries. No one knows about this GDL except Albertans lol.

[heavyD]

Driving is a privelage, not a right.

And drivers need to be more aware of the responsibilities of driving. A lot of today's drivers are negligent. I'm not the oldest person here but I have been driving since the early 90's and drivers are worse today than they have ever been.

[OTown]

I'd like to see mandatory retesting every 5 years.

This.

[gmc72]

And drivers need to be more aware of the responsibilities of driving. A lot of today's drivers are negligent. I'm not the oldest person here but I have been driving since the early 90's and drivers are worse today than they have ever been.

QFT. I was out on my bike yesterday and almost got sideswiped, rear ended and had a minivan pull up beside me waiting at a light.

[D'z Nutz]

And drivers need to be more aware of the responsibilities of driving. A lot of today's drivers are negligent. I'm not the oldest person here but I have been driving since the early 90's and drivers are worse today than they have ever been.

It blows my mind how many people are unaware they can turn on a red. It blows my mind even more when I honk at them and they can't figure out why.

[Xtrema]

Well unlike Ontario, there is 0 insurance incentive to get off GDL here. Money talks.

[suntan]

It blows my mind how many people are unaware they can turn on a red. It blows my mind even more when I honk at them and they can't figure out why.

They're from Quebec.

[ExtraSlow]

snipers.

[DonJuan]

All these fuckin' 08's and their GDLs

[dirtsniffer]

'08 GDL checking in...

Stop by a registry to get your non-GDL license, or wait until July for it to happen automatically.

https://www.alberta.ca/changes-to-driver-licensing-system.aspx?fbclid=IwAR0uIgs_rCsSqg07X4EN75XvFqWOBFRNnjmX5RaiFAPzsZF0K0mjM3RUdVI

[suntan]

Oldest did the new test. 45 mins long and $150 now.

[schurchill39]

Now can we standardize the cost of a medical exam for us Class 1 people so its not a coin flip if I'm paying $100 or $200 for the same piece of paper thats says I don't have diabetes and an see good.