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Alcohol: unsafe at any speed
In 1987, 43 percent of Canadian drivers fatally injured and tested for
alcohol were found to have a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) over the legal
limit of .08 (80 mg %). During the 1990s, the percentage of fatally injured
drivers in this category slowly decreased and accounted for 27 percent of those
fatally injured drivers tested by 1999, but increased to 32 percent in 2001.
Those who had been drinking (> 0 mg %) declined from 53 percent to 38 percent
between 1987 and 2001.
BAC: Blood Alcohol Concentration
mg %: Weight of alcohol in the bloodstream stated as milligrams in 100
millilitres of blood.
While the percentage of fatally injured drivers
tested and found to be over the legal blood alcohol limit has generally declined
over the years, there are significant variations among age groups, which are
presented in the following table.
|
Percentage of Fatally Injured Drivers Tested and
Found to be
Over the Legal Limit (BAC >80 mg%)
|
|
Age Group |
1987 |
1988 |
1989 |
1990 |
1991 |
1992 |
1993 |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
|
<19 |
29.7 |
38.6 |
31.2 |
30.6 |
31.2 |
35.0 |
29.6 |
32.5 |
29.6 |
31.9 |
29.2 |
26.3 |
20.5 |
27.5 |
25.3 |
|
20-25 |
51.1 |
46.4 |
47.5 |
39.4 |
50.0 |
44.1 |
44.3 |
46.0 |
47.0 |
46.9 |
46.3 |
43.5 |
32.7 |
36.2 |
42.6 |
|
26-35 |
55.0 |
56.3 |
49.8 |
48.6 |
48.4 |
52.8 |
48.4 |
48.8 |
47.5 |
42.7 |
41.6 |
45.7 |
41.6 |
40.0 |
47.8 |
|
36-45 |
46.4 |
39.5 |
41.6 |
41.9 |
45.1 |
45.4 |
44.3 |
41.9 |
43.6 |
44.1 |
37.8 |
40.1 |
33.5 |
36.9 |
38.4 |
|
46-55 |
37.6 |
33.7 |
28.6 |
36.3 |
34.3 |
37.9 |
27.5 |
28.8 |
25.1 |
29.6 |
22.8 |
30.2 |
22.5 |
27.2 |
26.8 |
|
>55 |
24.4 |
13.7 |
18.7 |
15.8 |
22.2 |
14.7 |
21.0 |
12.5 |
11.8 |
14.5 |
12.3 |
10.3 |
11.9 |
11.9 |
14.9 |
|
Total |
43.2 |
40.4 |
38.9 |
36.6 |
40.3 |
40.1 |
37.9 |
36.0 |
35.5 |
34.9 |
31.7 |
32.8 |
27.1 |
27.1 |
32.2 |
The alcohol-related casualty figures remain grim. Of almost 3,000 road users
killed in 2000, alcohol was a factor in approximately 1,200 deaths. Many of the
fatally injured drivers who had been drinking were severely impaired.
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