FACTS ABOUT DRINKING AND DRIVING
The Difference between a .05 and .08 (BAC) Breath Alcohol Content
The approved screening devices, which are the Breathalyzer devices used at the road side, are calibrated to register a warn or a fail. if your blood alcohol concentration is .10 which is 100 milligrams of alcohol in a hundred millimeters of blood. (BAC) you have just register a fail.
Then you are charged with the criminal offence under the Criminal Code of impaired driving.
Drinking and Driving over the Legal Limit
During the past decade, more than 2,000 lives have been lost and more than 50,000 people have sustained injuries in collisions involving a drinking driver.
While Ontario has come a long way, impaired driving remains a serious problem:
- Every year, about 17,000 drivers are convicted of Criminal Code of Canada offences (including impaired driving, driving with a blood alcohol concentration of more than 0.08, criminal negligence causing bodily harm or death, manslaughter, dangerous driving and failure to remain at the scene of a collision). It is estimated that approximately three quarters of those convictions are related to drinking and driving.
- Impaired drivers are involved in thousands of traffic collisions every year.
- Drunk driving accounts for almost 25% of all fatalities on Ontario’s roads.
- About 17,000 impaired driving incidents were reported by police in Ontario in 2005. In the same year, 174 people were killed and 3,852 were injured in motor vehicle collisions involving a drinking driver.
Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC)
The amount of alcohol in a person’s body is measured by the amount of the alcohol in blood. This is called the blood alcohol concentration, or ( BAC.)
For the purposes of law enforcement, BAC is used to define intoxication and provides a measure of impairment. In Ontario and the rest of Canada, the maximum legal BAC for fully licensed drivers is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood (0.08).
Driving withBAC in excess of 0.08 is a criminal offence.
BAC levels are affected by many factors, including:
- How fast you drink:Alcohol consumed quickly will result in a higher BAC than when consumed over a long period of time.
- Gender: Women generally have less water and more body fat per pound of body weight than men. Alcohol does not go into fat cells as easily as other cells, so more alcohol remains in the blood of women.
- Body weight: The more you weigh, the more water is present in your body. This water dilutes the alcohol and lowers the BAC.
- Amount of food in your stomach: Absorption is slowed if you’ve had something to eat.
With a BAC of 0.05, an individual’s vision may already be affected in terms of sensitivity to brightness, the ability to determine colours, and depth and motion perception. The brain’s ability to perform simple motor functions is diminished. This means that a driver’s reaction time will be slower and responses will be less accurate.
The result is degraded driving performance and a significant increase in collision risk.
The increased collision risk of drivers with a BAC from 0.05 to 0.08 (also known as the "warn range") is well documented:
- Drivers with a BAC above 0.05 but below the legal limit are 7.2 times more likely to be in a fatal collision than drivers with a zero BAC.
- In 2005, 16.7% of drinking drivers killed in Ontario had a BAC less than 0.08.
How much can I drink before I reach the 0.05 BAC limit?
The number of drinks consumed is a poor measure of BAC because of the many factors affecting your body’s ability to digest alcohol, such as weight, body fat, and how long ago and how much you ate. Factors like tiredness and your mood can also make a difference in how alcohol affects your driving ability.
It is very difficult to assess your own BAC or impairment. Small amounts of alcohol affect one’s brain and the ability to drive.
Roadside Licence Suspensions
As of May 1, 2009, if you’re caught driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) from 0.05 to 0.08 in Ontario (known as the "warn range"), the police can immediately suspend your licence up to three days for a first occurrence, seven days for a second occurrence and 30 days for a third or subsequent occurrence.
Consequences for Driving with a 0.05 to 0.08 "Warn Range" Blood Alcohol Concentration
First Time
· 3-day licence suspension
· $150 Administrative Monetary Penalty
Second Time (within 5 years)
· 7-day licence suspension
· $150 Administrative Monetary Penalty
Third Time (within 5 years)
· 30-day licence suspension
· $150 Administrative Monetary Penalty
Subsequent infractions (within 5 years)
· 30-day licence suspension
· Mandatory medical evaluation
· $150 Administrative Monetary Penalty
These roadside licence suspensions cannot be appealed. Suspensions will be recorded on the driver’s record. For up to five years, these roadside suspensions will be considered when determining consequences for subsequent infractions.
What happens if my licence is suspended?
You will be given a suspension notice by a police officer, indicating that the suspension of your licence takes effect immediately. The police officer will take your licence from you and send it back to the Ministry of Transportation (MTO).
You will not be able to drive home.
If you are with a sober passenger who is licensed and fit to drive, he or she may drive the vehicle. If it is a safe location, you can choose to leave the vehicle at the roadside, or the police will have the vehicle towed at the vehicle owner’s expense.
