In the News

Ontario's drunk driving laws the nation's best: MADD
Canwest News Service
December 2, 2009

OAKVILLE, Ont. — Ontario's impaired driving laws are the nation's most effective, but much of the rest of the country could stand to improve theirs, according to a Mothers Against Drunk Driving report released Wednesday.

MADD's rankings, which come out every three years, gave an A minus grade to Ontario for enacting several measures in recent years, namely for lowering the maximum allowable blood alcohol content (BAC) from 0.08 per cent to 0.05 this year.

Manitoba (A minus) was ranked right behind Ontario, as it was the first province to pass legislation requiring a 0.0 per cent BAC for people who have driven less than five years.

Saskatchewan (B), Alberta (B minus), Newfoundland and Labrador (C plus), the Yukon (C minus), the Northwest Territories (D plus), and Nunavut (F) were all criticized for having "done little to strengthen their impaired driving laws in the last three years."

Among the report's suggestions were to introduce graduated licensing systems requiring new drivers to follow stringent guidelines and mandatory alcohol interlock systems — devices linked to a car's ignition that measure the driver's BAC — for anyone convicted of a federal impaired driving offence.

MADD estimated that about 1,350 Canadians were killed in motor vehicle accidents involving impaired drivers in 2006.

Also see...

Rating the Provinces