DECLINE IN DRINKING AND DRIVING CRASHES, FATALITIES AND INJURIES IN CANADA

This paper documents the most prominent trends in drinking and driving that have occurred in Canada over the past two decades and considers some of the major factors that may have contributed to these changes. Several indicators were used to assess trends in drinking and driving, including measures of the bahaviour itself -- determined from roadside surveys -- as well as measures of the consequences of drinking and driving, such as the frequency and quantity of alcohol found among drivers killed in road crashes. Overall, the evidence suggests that there has been a significant decrease in the magnitude of the drinking and driving problem in Canada over the past decade. Numerous activities such as new legislation, increased enforcement of impaired driving laws, greater numbers of awareness and education campaigns and community-based programs all occurred simultaneously during the 1980s making it difficult to determine which factors were responsible for the observed decrease.