MADD Canada president calls for random breath testing

Because of a high prevalence of drivers operating their vehicles under the influence in 2011, the need for random breath testing has never been higher, according to the president of MADD Canada.

Citing the results of the Ontario Provincial Police's recent anti-drunk driving campaign - which led to 551 warn range suspensions being handed out by the OPP and the 652 impaired driving charges - Denise Dubyk said random breath testing legislation would go a long way toward saving lives and reducing the number of traffic accidents that occur in Canada.

"Clearly, a lot of people still are not getting the message," said Dubyk. "The numbers being reported by municipal and regional police forces show high numbers of impaired driving charges and warn range suspensions. In many cases, the numbers are higher than last year's campaigns."

While there were fewer warn range suspensions in Ontario this past year compared to 2010, there were more drunk driving charges, approximately 340 more, Dubyk noted.

"The checkpoint numbers show that a high number of people are still driving impaired," said Dubyk. "These drivers still think the likelihood of getting caught is low and so they take the chance. That's why the need for random breath testing is stronger than ever."

MADD Canada's president said the anti-drunk driving advocacy group has performed a considerable amount of research on whether random breath testing would lead to results. According to the group's analysis, 248 lives would be spared and approximately 14,600 injuries could be avoided each year. This would lead to Canadians saving approximately $4.3 billion annually in accident and auto insurance costs.

She added that if the Government of Canada introduces and passes random breath testing legislation, motorists would have a stronger incentive not to drink and drive, as the chances of them being caught would increase. Under the current law - and based on conviction data - the likelihood of an impaired driver being stopped is minimal.

Citing 2006 statistics, Dubyk said that a person would have to drive in a drunk state once a week every week for more than three years before being charged with an impaired driving offence.

"We have one of the worst records on impaired driving in the world," said Dubyk. "It is time for Canada to take a stronger stand against impaired driving. Canada needs random breath testing legislation now."

While much of Dubyk's data was from the OPP, law enforcement officers in other portions of the country have indicated drunk driving is a problem there as well. According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, between November 2011 and January 2, police handed out nearly 400 impaired driving charges, a 30 per cent increase compared to the same two-month period in 2010, CBC News reports. In addition, there were 40 per cent more suspensions during the holiday season, 332 to 2010's 240.