'Enough is Enough' Campaign to Provide Sobering Arguments on Legal Limits of Impaired Driving Law

"The public needs to be fully aware of just how much a person can drink and legally drive, then we'll see the laws change." - MADD Canada

February 6, 2007 -- Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD Canada) has re-launched its public awareness campaign to bring the 'misunderstood' legal limits for drinking and driving to Canadians’ attention. Unveiled today, the goal of MADD Canada's 'Enough is Enough' campaign is to educate and move the country's law makers to draft effective impaired driving laws with more appropriate legal limits. The campaign urges the public to become informed and voice their concerns about how much one can drink and then legally drive in our country. 

On www.madd.ca, the organization has compiled mounting empirical evidence, public service announcements, and resource documentation, all in support of a review of Canada's blood alcohol concentration (BAC) legal limit.  [To hear MADD Canada's PSA, click here.]

Central to the campaign is MADD Canada’s support for MP Ron Cannan’s legislation, Bill C-376, that introduces a new 0.05% BAC Criminal Code offence for impaired driving.

"The current federal BAC legal limit for impaired driving law, as it is enforced in Canada today, is too high," says Andrew Murie, MADD Canada's Chief Executive Officer. "Our campaign will relate the facts about our law's legal limits to Canadians and provide the means for their comments to be registered with MPs."

"Frankly, the law is inadequate when it comes to protecting innocent drivers on our roads. The legal limit and how it is applied is misunderstood. So, the public needs to be fully aware of just how much a person can drink and legally drive and then, we believe, we'll see the laws change."

Mr. Murie adds, "Let's be better informed on levels of impairment and what they mean in real drinking terms and for a person's driving capabilities. With the facts, one can quickly deduce that today's allowable level of intoxication for drivers is far too high."

“Our lawmakers must seriously look at a new sanction like that being championed by Ron Cannan because the status quo is just unacceptable.”

In ad copy released via www.madd.ca today, MADD Canada reports that, in practical terms, the current federal legal limit of 0.08% BAC means a 200 lb. man on an empty stomach can drink 6-plus standard drinks in two hours, and will likely not be charged with a Criminal Code offence for impaired driving. [To view new poster, click here.]

MADD Canada further reports that a 130 lb. woman can drink 3-plus standard drinks in two hours and then drive without likely being charged with a Criminal Code offence for impaired driving.
"MADD Canada strongly believes the current allowable limits do not reflect social drinking, but rather intoxication levels that are far too risky for other safe and sober road users. We're urging Canadians to become aware and to let their elected representatives know how they feel about the inadequate impaired driving legal limits," says Mr. Murie.

"MADD Canada urges Canadians not to drink and drive. If a person wishes to drink, plan ahead and ensure nobody's life on the roads is put in jeopardy," says Mr. Murie.

MADD Canada’s CEO also points to the fact that knowledgeable Canadians are increasingly supporting the notion of a BAC legal limit set at 0.05%. In a November 2005 SES public opinion survey, 73 % of Canadians believe the current legal drinking limits should be reduced. In that survey, when the proposed lower drinking limit was explained, 84% of Canadians felt this level was ‘about right’ or should be even lower.

For more information, call:

Andrew Murie, MADD Canada's CEO
1-800-665-6233, ext. 224

Also see...

Criminal Code 0.05% BAC law will reduce impaired driving in Canada

'Enough is Enough'