The federal government must do more to eliminate impaired driving. Taking Back Our Roads provides the Government with a checklist of initiatives that can be implemented immediately. MADD Canada urges the Federal Government to adopt these initiatives in this Parliament. We call on the Government to introduce the legislation needed to amend the Criminal Code and implement the necessary measures to make Canada’s impaired driving laws more effective and efficient.

The package of initiatives will save lives and make our roads safer. The initiatives will effectively fight impaired driving by decreasing the numbers of impaired drivers on the road; increasing the conviction rates; and providing greater fairness and consistency in our judicial system across the country.

Canadian impaired driving laws are not working; they are not deterring people from drinking and driving. The research shows Canada is falling behind in the fight to eliminate impaired driving. We need a comprehensive strategy, like Taking Back Our Roads, to decrease the numbers of drinking drivers and reduce the crashes, injuries and deaths that result from drinking and driving.

The lowering of the federal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit to .05%, coupled with enhancing police powers, are absolutely essential to deter Canadians from drinking and driving. Research shows that a person’s driving skills begin to be affected at levels lower than .05% BAC.  In countries around the world, the level is .05%. Our current laws are not working and it is a public safety concern when common practice allows people to drive with levels of .10% before charging them. At this level, drinking drivers are a dangerous threat on the roads and pose an unacceptable risk to Canada’s safe, sober and responsible drivers.

Police need greater powers to detect, apprehend and charge impaired drivers. More than 9 in 10 Canadians want to see new measures given to police at the roadside.  MADD Canada wants national standards for the enforcement of impaired driving: police need the latest breathalyzer technology at roadside; the right to demand a standard field sobriety test; the right to use passive alcohol sensors; and, the right to demand a breath or blood sample at the crash scene where there has been a fatality or serious injury.

The crime of impaired driving takes a heavy toll on our country. There are more than four Canadians killed and 125 Canadians seriously injured as a result of alcohol-related crashes. The reality is that millions of Canadians continue to drink and drive – and there are tens of thousands of impaired driving trips a day in our country. Our laws must do a better job of separating drinking and driving occasions. Only in this way will we see the numbers of people being killed and injured decrease.

Taking Back Our Roads is an exhaustive review of the federal impaired driving legislation. It contains strong arguments that are built on irrefutable studies and the latest international experience. It clearly demonstrates that our Federal Government