driving definition alcohol
A prior offence vs. 2 or more prior offences
<p>I am confused about the following <a href="https://www.alberta.ca/driving-laws.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">statement</a>.</p>
<p>First it says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>a prior offence in the last 10 years, you will be disqualified from holding a driver's licence for 3 years from the date of the conviction</p>
</blockquote>
<p>but then it says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>2 or more prior offences in the last 10 years, you will be disqualified from holding a driver's licence for 5 years from the date of the conviction.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Shouldn't the second part say:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>3</strong> or more prior offences in the last 10 years, you will be disqualified from holding a driver's licence for 5 years from the date of the conviction</p>
</blockquote>
<p>because the first part says if you already have a prior offence and later you have a second one, then you will be disqualified from holding a driver's licence for 3 years from the date of the conviction?</p>

<p>No. The first part addresses the penalties for a second offense. The second part addresses the penalties for a third or subsequent offense.</p>

<p>The wording is from the current ongoing trial that leads to a conviction.</p>
<ul>
<li>Alice drives drunk. She has no prior convictions, so is not disqualified.</li>
<li>Bob drives drunk. He has a conviction from last year. He is disqualified to drive for 3 years from his new conviction.</li>
<li>Charly drives Drunk. He has one conviction from 5 years ago, one from 4 years ago, and just regained his license last year. Now he is convicted and disqualified for the next 5 years.</li>
<li>Dorothy drives Drunk. She has a long record of drunken driving, but never without a license. She regained her license two weeks ago after having been disqualified for 5 years. That was 2 weeks ago, and now she is standing in court for drunk driving again. The last disqualification happened 5 years and 16 days after the preceding conviction and is thus 10 years and 1 month prior to the new conviction - and thus outside the 10-year window. As a strange result, she only has a single conviction inside that window and would be disqualified for only 3 years.</li>
</ul>
