Yorkregion.com - Wheels - Report reveals support for stronger stand against impaired driving
Report reveals support for stronger stand against impaired driving
Wheels
Dec 26, 2007 01:49 PM
By: ROBINSON/BEINTEMA AUTOFILES
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD Canada) says the Canadian public has become increasingly concerned about the mounting human carnage on our roads and approve stronger countermeasures such as ignition interlocks, random breath testing, and lower blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limits.
“This is a real wake-up call for our legislators,” says Margaret Miller, MADD Canada National President, commenting on a 2007 impaired driving survey report, released by Transport Canada. “There is strong public support for governments to strengthen countermeasures that will enhance detection and apprehension, stop repeat offenders, and ensure greater police enforcement of impaired driving laws.”
The vast majority of Canadians (91 %) view impaired driving as the country’s greatest road safety concern and one that governments need to deal with as a priority issue. Almost 9 in 10 Canadians overwhelmingly support countermeasures to eliminate the crime: vehicle confiscation, zero BAC for drivers under the legal drinking age, mandatory breath testing at fatality crash scenes, are some of the most popular measures cited.
Other key findings in the report reveal Canadians want governments to re-think their approach and look to new countermeasures.
- Two-thirds of Canadians (66%) think police should be allowed to randomly breath test
- More than 8 in 10 Canadians (83%) want alcohol ignition interlocks in convicted impaired drivers vehicles
- A majority of Canadians (56 %) want alcohol ignition interlocks installed in all new cars and are willing to pay extra for this to happen
- A strong majority of focus group participants favoured lowering the BAC limit to .05% when it was explained that police routinely charge at no less than 0.10 % BAC and that this limit allows a ‘surprisingly large’ amount of alcohol consumption
Both the full report and a summary of its key findings can be found on www.madd.ca