Chronic Drunk Drivers Still a Big Problem

Canadians admit they probably drove drunk on more than 5.5 million occasions last year. However, 86 per cent of those impaired driving trips were taken by just three per cent of the drivers, according to the 2003 Road Safety Monitor released by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF). The Canada Safety Council provided financial support for this survey.

More than 1,200 drivers were surveyed by telephone in May 2003 on a number of road safety issues. The survey found that 84 per cent of Canadians still think drinking and driving is a serious problem. However, in the 25 to 34 age group, almost one driver in four (23.5 per cent) reports driving after drinking. A disturbing 6.3 per cent (1.4 million) of drivers say that they have driven at some time during the past year when they thought they were over the legal limit.

Canadian drivers support new initiatives to deal with drinking and driving including: requiring drivers suspected of drinking to perform sobriety tests, alcohol ignition interlocks; immediate impoundment of vehicles driven by impaired drivers; greater use of police spot checks, and a zero BAC (blood alcohol concentration) restriction for convicted offenders. The Canada Safety Council strongly supports all of these measures, which have proven to be effective ways to reduce impaired driving.

The findings suggest there are fewer drunk drivers on our roads than three years ago, when a similar survey was done. However, they also show that a small number of chronic offenders continue to pose a complex and resistant challenge in the fight against impaired driving.

In 2000, there were 864 people killed in Canada in road crashes involving an impaired driver, and over 3,300 drivers were involved in alcohol-related serious injury crashes.

Return to top of page

The Alcohol-Crash Problem in Canada: 2000

2003 Road Safety Monitor: Drinking and Driving