The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) believes that
the reduction of deaths and injuries from drunk driving is a public health
priority. Achieving this goal involves both societal action and personal
responsibility.
Because alcohol and driving continue to coexist in our society, proven
measures to reduce the harms associated with drinking and driving are
required. Based on the weight of the scientific evidence, CAMH supports
a number of measures to address the problem of drinking and driving, including:
- lowering of the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) from 80 mg% to 50
mg%;
- mandating server training programs; and
- using ignition interlock devices for the vehicles of convicted drinking
drivers among other proven interventions that are currently used.
Lowering the Legal Limit to 50 mg%
Drinking-driving fatalities are still the largest cause of alcohol-related
deaths in Canada. Evidence shows that driving skills are significantly
impaired at levels of 50 mg% and below, and that collision risks are significantly
elevated at BAC levels of 50 mg%. Over 35,000 people died in alcohol-related
collisions between 1977 and 1996, and the number injured may have been
over 1,000,000. It has been estimated that a 50 mg% legal limit would
have prevented between 185 and 555 deaths on Canadian roads in 1996 alone.
Reducing the legal limit in the Criminal Code to 50 mg% would be a very
reasonable next step in the effort to educate the public about the hazards
of driving or operating motorized vehicles of any kind after excessive
alcohol consumption.
Server Training Programs
Server training programs were developed to assist those who serve alcohol
in identifying situations in which patrons may be served to intoxication,
and in taking action to prevent excessive alcohol consumption. Well-designed
programs have demonstrated their effectiveness in reaching those goals.
Therefore, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health recommends that
all individuals who serve alcohol be required to successfully complete
a program of server training, taught by highly qualified instructors and
demonstrated to be effective.
Ignition Interlock for Return of Suspended Licenses
The Province of Ontario recently passed legislation that will require
convicted drinking drivers to use an ignition interlock as a condition
of getting their licence back after a period of suspension. These devices
appear to have the ability to reduce recidivism during the period when
they are installed on the vehicle of a convicted offender. Therefore,
CAMH recommends that the ignition interlock requirement for convicted
offenders complement, but not replace, existing measures of proven effectiveness,
such as license suspensions and other remedial requirements.
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