Driving While Impaired in Canada
Tough new laws have been enacted in Canada in response to the problem of driving while impaired. In this case "impaired" means driving while intoxicated on alcohol -- being over the limit on blood alcohol (driving under the influence, DUI / driving while intoxicated, DWI) -- or on drugs. This paper describes the issue, reviews the relevant legislation and laws, reviews the history of laws pertaining to impaired driving sanctions, and offers analysis of the contemporary legal situations regarding impaired driving laws in Canada.
What is Impaired Driving?
The Ministry of Transportation in Ontario defines impaired driving as driving "while you ability is affected by alcohol or drugs… a deadly combination" (www.mto.gov.on.ca). The fact is that one drink can reduce a driver's ability to concentrate on the road and the traffic. Even one drink can affect a driver's reaction time, the MTO explains. The MTO also explains that any drug "…that changes your mood, or the way you see and feel, will affect the way you drive." Of course the immediate reference is to the use of cocaine, marijuana, and other illegal drugs. But MTO adds that legal drugs, prescription drugs, can also affect the way you drive; in addition, some "over-the-counter" drugs can impair a driver's ability.
What is the Problem in Canada -- Why Tougher Laws?
Tougher laws related to impaired driving have recently been enacted in Canada, and will be reviewed later in this paper. The need for laws that are tougher can be seen in the data that is available. According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in Canada, between 1999 and 2008, alcohol and drug-related accidents on Canada's highways resulted in "…an estimated 12,100 death, 713,845 injuries and damage to 2,359,190 vehicles" (Pitel, et al., 2011, p. 3). The average number of highway deaths linked to the abuse of alcohol and drugs per year, according to Pitel -- a professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Western Ontario -- 1,210 deaths, 71,385 injuries, and damage to 235,919 vehicles. The cost to Canadians over the ten-year period between 1999 and 2008 was an estimated $20.53 billion, "or about $6,221 per Canadian" (Pitel, 3).
In 2008, which according to the MADD document edited by Pitel is the most recent year for specific data on impairment-related crashes, there were an estimated 1,162 fatalities, 68,538 injuries and there was damage to 226,522 vehicles. Pitel notes that Canadian data on "blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) is relatively reliable"; however, the data on whether a person might have been impaired by drugs is not complete, and that is due to the "lack of testing and testing sensitivity" (Pitel, 4). Roughly, the estimate is that about 25% of impairment-related crashes are due to a combination of drugs and alcohol; 75% of impairment-related crashes are due to the abuse of alcohol alone; and 10% of impairment-related crashes are said to be due to drugs alone with no alcohol involvement (Pitel, 5).
Moreover, it is known that some accidents -- likely caused by driver impairment -- that are not as serious, and don't involved fatalities, go unreported to police. This can skew the data that officials are attempting to keep as accurately as possible. For example, it is known that the number of "less serious crashes based on police reports are far lower than estimates based on insurance data" (Pitel, 5). A driver hoping to be paid by an insurance company for damage to his or her car certainly will report it to the insurance agent, but may not have reported it to police due to the impairment issue at the time of the accident.
A 2005 national survey in Canada reflected the fact that "15% of Canadian drivers reported driving a vehicle within two hours of consuming alcohol in the past 30 days" (Hales, et al., 2009, p. 364). In that same survey, over 1.5 million respondents did they know they were driving when impaired, and 16% of those admitted they drove while impaired "four or more times" within a one-year period, Hales explains on page 364. A more recent study of college students (full-time students) revealed that "20% of students drove after drinking some amount of alcohol, 10% drove after drinking five or more drinks, and 23% rode with a driver who was high or drunk" (Hales, 364).
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