March 16, 2005

PEI Physicians Want to Criminalize at .05

Hon. Patrick Binns, Premier
Province of Prince Edward Island
Charlottetown, PE

Dear Premier:

Recent news reports indicate that PEI physicians want your government to lower the legal blood alcohol limit to .05. We wonder if they are aware that your province, along with most others, already has an administrative limit of .05 for drinking drivers, or whether they realize that the Criminal Code, which specifies a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08, falls under the federal government.

Although impairment begins with the first drink, the majority of drivers involved in alcohol-related fatal crashes have BACs over .15, which is almost twice the legal limit. These high-BAC drivers represent about one per cent of the cars on the road at night and on weekends, but nearly half of all drivers killed at those times. Most fall into one of two major categories: the young (ages 19 to 24) and the hardcore.

Administrative licence suspensions provide a measured response to the risk posed by low-BAC drivers. They protect the public by taking potentially dangerous drivers off the road, and give those drivers a strong warning. These suspensions are an effective tool in the fight against impaired driving, in part because they impose swift and certain consequences. There is no evidence that charging low-BAC drivers under the federal Criminal Code would prevent more deaths and injuries than dealing with them under the Island’s existing traffic regulations.

Your province is a member of the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA), which has taken a position against lowering the criminal BAC to .05. According to CCMTA, this would hamper the ability of the police to detect drivers with a BAC greater than .08 (who are a greater crash risk), due to the over-extending of enforcement resources. CCMTA says a move to criminalize drivers who are at lower risk of collision involvement would further burden an overtaxed criminal justice system without increasing the deterrent effect of the law.

The past two decades have seen a major drop in impaired driving across this country. We still have a long way to go. Nonetheless, statistics show high-BAC drivers — many of them chronic offenders and alcohol dependent — now cause most of the harm. Many already drive at BACs twice the current legal limit; their irresponsible behaviour will not be changed by a lower legal limit. They must be the primary focus of preventive measures.

Sincerely,

Emile-J. Therien
President, Canada Safety Council

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