More Canadians admit to drinking and driving: study

An increasing number of Canadians say they have driven their vehicles while they thought their blood alcohol level was over the legal limit and many did so multiple times, said the latest annual survey from the Traffic Injury Research Foundation.

The percentage of respondents who reported driving while they believed they were over the legal limit increased in each of the past four years, climbing from 5.6 per cent to 8.2 per cent between 2004 and 2007, said the survey released in the midst of December's pre-Christmas parties.

The study also found that because of repeat offences, only 4.8 per cent of drivers were responsible for 89 per cent of vehicle trips reportedly made while the drivers believed their blood alcohol was over the limit.

The survey results, considered accurate within 2.8 per cent, 19 times out of 20, were based on a telephone survey of 1,238 drivers across Canada conducted in September by the Ottawa-based, non-profit research group.

In total, 11,625 households were contacted, but more than 80 per cent refused to participate or were ineligible. To be eligible, respondents had to have a valid driver's licence and had to have driven in the past 30 days.

The study also looked at support for various measures to deal with drunk drivers and found:

• 83 per cent agree with the use of ignition interlock devices that prevent a driver's car from starting unless a breath test is passed.
• 81 per cent agree that the vehicle of a driver who fails an alcohol breath test should be immediately impounded.
• 70 per cent agree with more police spot checks.

Only 18 per cent support lowering the legal blood alcohol limit of 0.08 grams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, even as some experts warn that as little as 0.05 can increase the risk of an accident.

"It's been known for many years that people are impaired at lower blood alcohol concentrations and at 0.05 and above, there is increased risk of causing a motor vehicle accident," said Toronto-based forensic alcohol toxicologist James Wigmore.

He cited some commonly known factors that affect an individual's blood alcohol concentration, including gender, body weight and the length of time the person was drinking. What is less discernible, he said, is the rate at which alcohol is eliminated from the liver.

The "average social drinker" who doesn't go above 0.05 or 0.06 should purge the alcohol within about four hours and be fine to drive by the following morning. However, a "binge drinker" who consumes 12 ounces — or six double-shot drinks — over two hours could reach a level of 1.5 and carry the alcohol for 10 hours.

"So if you go home and do sleep for five or six hours and have coffee, when you start driving you could still have a positive blood alcohol concentration," Wigmore said, recommending police perform ride checks in the early morning as well as in the evenings.

Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Cam Wooley said officers continue to stop people who are above the legal limit even after they have snoozed after drinking and are on their way to work the next morning.

"Most of the people that we arrest think they're OK to drive," he said.   

Findings disputed

Ward Vanlaar, lead researcher for the study, said he thinks the courts should impose alcohol ignition systems on every repeat drunk driver.

"You have to set priorities and I think we definitely need to focus on repeat drunk drivers because of the large contribution to the problem that they're actually causing," he said.

But Ottawa police dispute the finding that drunk driving is increasing. The service said as of Friday, it had stopped 15 drivers over the preceding two weeks for allegedly driving with their blood alcohol over the legal limit.

Sgt. Pat Frost of the alcohol countermeasures unit said he doubts drunk driving is as common as the survey suggests.

He agreed that there are many repeat offenders, but said police don't have the resources to focus on those individuals, although they do try to respond to complaints.

"People are calling in knowing co-workers who have been charged and convicted of impaired driving who are still driving and in those cases we do take the steps needed to make sure that those people are not driving as they are and appropriate charges are laid," he said.

However, he said it is up to the courts to decide how to punish convicted offenders.