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Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) refers to the weight of alcohol (expressed in milligrams) in a standard volume of blood (usually 100 millilitres). For example, it is an offence under the Criminal Code of Canada to operate a motor vehicle with a BAC that exceeds 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. Because the amount of alcohol in the breath is directly proportional to the amount of alcohol in the blood, BAC is readily (and most often) measured by means of a breath test - i.e., using a "breathalyzer".

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The number of fatally injured drinking drivers has declined by 41 percent since 1987. The level achieved in 1999 (33 percent of fatally injured drivers with positive BACs) was the lowest point reached in the past three decades. During 2003, (the most recent year for which official statistics are available), 38 percent of fatally injured drivers had positive BACs.

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All provinces, except Quebec , have legislation that allows a police officer to suspend a driver's licence immediately for a short period of time (12 or 24 hours), if the driver has a BAC of 50 mg percent or greater (40 mg percent in Saskatchewan ).

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Contrary to popular opinion most alcohol-related crashes do not occur during the winter months (December, January, and February). The greatest numbers of alcohol-related crashes occur during the summer months (June, July, and August).

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A wide range of drugs (illicit as well as prescription and even some sold over-the-counter) have impairing effects on driving-related skills. It is also known that many of these drugs are found in drivers involved in serious road crashes - as many as 25 percent of fatally injured drivers have been found to be positive for some psychoactive substance.

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You can be charged with impaired driving on your own property. The Criminal Code of Canada applies not only to public roads and highways but to private property as well.

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You can be charged with impaired driving under the Criminal Code of Canada even your BAC is below the legal limit, or if you have not been drinking at all. If the police officer determines that your ability to operate the vehicle is impaired, you can be charged with impaired driving.

Source of statistics - Traffic Injury Research Foundation