efficiently, all the alcohol gathers in the blood and body tissues. .
Alcohol affects the way people drive in may ways. The more a .
person drinks, the more their ability to make good driving decisions .
begins to disappear. After just one drink, a driver can start to lose .
their ability to do the tasks necessary for driving a car: braking, .
steering, changing lanes, and using judgment to different road .
conditions. At a certain point, a driver will become legally intoxicated .
and can be arrested for attempting to operate a motor vehicle. .
Federal and Provincial governments have divided jurisdiction over .
drinking and driving and driving and drinking. Provincial laws regulate .
highways, the licensing of drivers and alcohol consumption. This was .
assigned to all provinces by the Constitution Act,1867. (3) In 2002, .
police reported 17 970 impaired driving accidents, representing 42% .
of the 42 850 people killed in all traffic crashes. Approximately .
one point five million drivers were arrested in 2000 for driving under .
the influence of alcohol or narcotics. Drugs other than alcohol (e.g., .
marijuana and cocaine) have been considered factors in eighteen .
percent of deaths with motor vehicle drivers. Other drugs are .
generally used in a combination with alcohol, which lead to other .
complications. (4) Nearly two-thirds of children under fifteen who died .
in alcohol-related crashes between 1985 and 1996 were riding with .
the impaired drivers. More than two-thirds of the drinking drivers were .
old enough to be the parent of the child who was killed, and fewer .
than twenty percent of the children killed were properly fastened at .
the time of the crash. Now just take a moment to think about that, and .
make sure your children know the results of getting into a car with an .
impaired driver.
Alcohol is virtually available to anyone at any point in time. .
The legal age to buy alcohol is nineteen in all provinces across .
