Before picking up your keys after having a few drinks, Cobourg Police Services urges you to remember the number four. As in: an average of four Canadians are killed every day due to impaired driving-related crashes.
Impaired driving is the number one criminal cause of death in Canada, yet is completely preventable. According to Transport Canada, over 1000 people are killed per year in road accidents due to drivers having partaken of alcohol or drugs. In addition to these fatalities are the 63,000 Canadians who are injured due to impaired drivers. Those numbers do not factor in boats, planes, four-wheelers, or other modes of transportation.
Between 2006 and 2017 Canadian police reported 950,283 impaired driving incidents (Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction). Impaired driving penalties in Ontario can include licence suspension and a reinstatement fee of nearly $300, vehicle impoundment, fines of over $500, and jail time. Other possible consequences are an increase in insurance fees, difficulty finding employment due to having a criminal record, potential limitations on international travel, as well as living with the knowledge that you may have harmed another person.
Instead of getting behind the wheel, arrange for a friend or relative to pick you up, call a cab, or assign a designated sober driver. Always plan a safe way home because it is not just you that is affected by your actions. When your judgement, reaction time, and perception is impaired by drugs and alcohol it also affects everyone in your vicinity —from the people in the vehicle with you to those who cross your path.
Anyone can play a role in keeping our roads and waterways safe and in reducing impaired driving crashes, deaths, and injuries. The Cobourg Police encourage the public to report suspected impaired driving by calling 911. In doing so, you could be saving someone’s life.