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Impaired Driving> Alcohol Impairment
Overview: Is Drinking and Driving still a problem?
Progress has been made since the late 1980’s in reducing the number of fatalities resulting from alcohol impairment.
From 1995 to 2004, an average of 38 people per year lost their lives due to alcohol-related collisions on Manitoba roadways. This average represents one-third (34.3%) of all fatalities.
To date, research has determined that most alcohol-related collisions occur during the weekend, with almost one-half of those crashes taking place between 9:00 pm and 3:00 am.
Generations have seen the “Don’t Drink & Drive” message; unfortunately there are those who fail to recognize the dangers and continue the practice of operating a motor vehicle while impaired. Possible reasons for doing so may involve:
- Drivers who fail to recognize the dangers associated with driving impaired
- Drivers who fail to make proper plans prior to drinking
- Drivers who begin to make their decisions only after they’ve begun to consume alcohol
Driving while impaired is a dangerous practice. The safe operation of any motor vehicle requires drivers to be alert and in complete control at all times—that is, to be able to concentrate on the driving tasks and to respond to ever-changing traffic, road and weather conditions. Impairment, whether by alcohol, drugs or fatigue, significantly curtails driving abilities and places drivers, passengers and other road users in harm’s way.
Manitoba is recognized as having some of the toughest anti-impaired driving legislation in country. In addition to existing Canadian impaired driving laws, Manitoba has included a number of sanctions intended to deter motorists from driving impaired and measures to reduce the likelihood of repeat occurrences. To find out more about existing impaired laws, please visit:
- Transport Canada web site
- Province of Manitoba web site
- Addictions Foundation of Manitoba
- Health Canada alcohol section
There are a number of alternative actions motorists can choose to avoid the dangers associated with driving under the influence. These include:
- Having a designated driver
- Calling a family member or a friend for a ride home
- Having sufficient cash available for a taxi
- Staying overnight, if possible
- Avoiding a ride from an impaired driver
To ensure the safety of your friends who should not drive due to impairment, the following suggestions are reprinted with permission from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the United States Department of Transportation to reduce the likelihood of driving while impaired:
- If it is a close friend, try and use a soft, calm approach at first. Suggest to them that they've had too much to drink and it would be better if someone else drove or if they took a cab.
- Be calm. Joke about it. Make light of it.
- Try to make it sound like you are doing them a favor.
- If it is somebody you don't know well, speak to their friends and have them make an attempt to persuade them to hand over the keys. Usually they will listen.
- If it's a good friend, spouse, or significant other, tell them that if they insist on driving, you are not going with them. Suggest that you will call someone else for a ride, take a cab, or walk.
- Locate their keys while they are preoccupied and take them away. Most likely, they will think they've lost them and will be forced to find another mode of transportation.
- If possible, avoid embarrassing the person or being confrontational. This makes them appear vulnerable to alcohol and its effects.
Friends don’t let friends drive drunk!! (NHTSA)
