In the News

Random tests could prevent drunk driving fatalities: MD
Vancouver Sun
By Pamela Fayerman
December 10, 2009

European countries and Australia have lowered death rates by up to 35 per cent

Hundreds of crashes, injuries and deaths from drunk driving could be averted each year in B.C. if police were given the legal authority to conduct random roadside breath testing, says a Vancouver Hospital emergency room doctor.

"It may be the hardest part of my job, telling family members their loved one has died as a result of an impaired driving accident," said Dr. Roy Purssell in an interview Wednesday.

In a B.C. Medical Journal article co-authored with two University of Western Ontario law professors, Purssell says that numerous countries in Europe have already made the change, with life-saving results.

In Australia, where random breath testing was long ago legalized and has been most extensively studied, total fatal crashes dropped by 35 per cent between 1988 and 1992.

Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said recently he wants to give police the power to conduct random roadside tests but he will first consult with his provincial counterparts.

If adopted, random tests would replace Canada's 40-year-old impaired driving laws, which say police can only administer breathalyzer tests if they have a reasonable suspicion of drunk driving.

With random breath testing, police can stop "maybe every 10th car," Purssell said.

Information provided to The Vancouver Sun by the Insurance Corporation of B.C. shows there were an average of 116 deaths from accidents involving impaired driving over a five-year period from 2003 to 2008.

"The numbers bounce around from year to year. You'll notice they are certainly not going down," said Purssell, adding that a University of B.C. study published earlier this year used different methodology and found there were more than 150 fatalities each year due to drinking and driving.

Purssell said that research was based on coroner's data and in 2006 there were 458 traffic fatalities; nearly 40 per cent of them alcohol-related.

"At least once every three days, a physician in B.C. has to tell family members that their mother, father, son or daughter has been killed in an impaired driving crash," said Purssell.

Just a few weeks ago, while on shift in the emergency department at Vancouver General Hospital, Purssell had two patients -- a driver and passenger -- who crashed into a median on the Cambie Bridge, in an accident involving alcohol.

"Drivers underestimate how little it takes to be impaired or they don't care," he said.

CounterAttack roadchecks, intended to catch impaired drivers during the holidays (December and summer), are now in effect. Roadchecks help reduce the number of fatalities, but Purssell said many impaired drivers elude the screening because they exhibit no outward signs of intoxication.

"The reason we have so many alcohol-related driving fatalities in Canada is because we have not enacted effective legislation such as random breath testing laws which have been proven to reduce traffic deaths in numerous comparable countries around the world," the co-authors of the article write.

Vancouver police department spokeswoman Const. Jana McGuinness said police are keen on any change for the better.

"We have to work within current legislation but we support any initiative that will help save lives," she said.

Solicitor-General Kash Heed could not be reached for a telephone interview about his position on random breath tests and whether he supports a change to federal crime legislation. But in an e-mail statement, these comments were sent:

"Our government is supportive of proven methods to reduce impaired driving and make our roads safer. A year ago, we announced expansion of our ignition interlock program to get more impaired drivers off the road. As well, for the past four years, police have been able to issue immediate, 24-hour suspensions and immediately impound a vehicle if they believe a driver has been drinking.

"I'm pleased to discuss any Criminal Code changes at the federal level that will build on everything our government has done to remove drinking drivers from B.C. roads."