The triangular logo of the Canada Safety Council was designed to symbolize the "three Es of safety" - education, enforcement and engineering.

In the fight against impaired driving, education is reaching most social drinkers, who by and large do not drink and drive. Enforcement agencies play a critical and highly visible role. There is less public awareness of the "engineering" side of the triangle, beyond the breathalyser, which is an engineered product. This may be due in part to the complexity of related scientific and legal issues.

A number of high tech tools have been designed to help police detect and charge drinking drivers, and to prevent convicted offenders from endangering the public. A few are already being used in Canada, while others may offer future potential. Following are some examples.

An Electronic Nose

Organized programs of road checkpoints are one of the most effective ways to reduce drunk driving. The courts have accepted their constitutionality, recognizing the right of the public to be protected against impaired drivers.

However, before requiring a test, police must have reasonable suspicion to believe the driver has consumed alcohol. Sometimes, behaviour such as erratic driving, disobeying traffic signals or excessive speed is apparent. Often an officer can clearly identify the odour of an alcoholic beverage on the person's breath. But some drinking drivers do not smell of alcohol, for a variety of reasons, and are not detected even when stopped by police.

Passive alcohol sensors (PAS) are portable devices that detect alcohol in the ambient air. They do not provide a deep lung sample, so any alcohol they detect may not be from the driver's breath. PAS devices come in different styles. For instance, one product resembles a flashlight; another looks like a clip board. As a tool, they can help police determine quickly whether further investigation is warranted.

On-Site Testing

To be charged with impaired driving under the Criminal Code, a suspect should be tested on an approved instrument; results can be admissible in court. To complete a drinking and driving related file takes two to four hours of officers' time because the suspect is usually brought to the police station for testing and to contact counsel. During that time, the officers must leave the roadside check.

New portable units for evidential breath testing are currently being used in some Canadian jurisdictions. These digital devices can be installed in a mobile unit for Blood Alcohol Testing (BATmobile), and require a qualified breath technician on-site.

Oral Testing

Drugs that cannot be detected by breath testing are of increasing concern.

Where a suspect provides a voluntary field sobriety test, police can determine whether his or her driving ability is impaired. Further voluntary tests can reveal to a trained police expert the class of drug that is involved. Blood or urine testing may then be done to confirm the presence of the suspected substance. Testing normally requires consent (very seldom given) to provide a sample. In the case of a blood sample, the suspect is taken to a hospital.

Intoxicants vary widely in their effects and how long metabolites are retained in the body. If the substance has been used within the last few hours, it would show up in the blood but not necessarily the urine. However, obtaining a blood sample is invasive, raises health concerns for those taking the sample, and does not give immediate results.

Saliva is probably the only body fluid other than blood that would indicate recent use. Oral testing is relatively non-invasive and reliable. It can detect any pharmacologically active drug in the donor at the time of testing, including alcohol, and can be observed first-hand.

There are still questions about oral testing. If these can be resolved, it may become an important tool in the future.

Ignition Interlock

Criminal convictions and driving suspensions don't stop all drinking drivers from taking the wheel after drinking to excess. A small number of chronic offenders pay the fine, serve the time, then continue to drive drunk. Many ignore driving license suspensions, assuming they won't be caught.

An ignition interlock requires the driver to provide a deep lung breath sample before the vehicle will start. The device is usually installed in offenders' vehicles at their own expense. It prevents impaired driving as long as it is installed, while allowing use of the vehicle. Its data recorder keeps track of the BAC level for each trial, whether successful or not. Experience is finding that offenders with a high number of unacceptable tries are more likely to re-offend when the device is removed.

In Alberta and Quebec, ignition interlock has been used as a condition for license reinstatement and parole. Promising results are leading to interest from other jurisdictions.

Implementation

In Canada, the Alcohol Test Committee makes recommendations to the federal Minister of Justice regarding "approved screening devices" and "approved instruments." However, approval of use for Criminal Code purposes is only the first step. After that, local and provincial agencies must invest resources and expertise to integrate these tools into programs that will keep impaired drivers off the road.

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Ignition Interlock - Incentive or Punishment?