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Drivers risk drunk driving, again and again

OTTAWA — Nearly a quarter of respondents to a new nationwide survey ran risks on the country’s roads this past year by driving while legally drunk, a study from the Canadian Automobile Association suggested Wednesday.

OTTAWA — Nearly a quarter of respondents to a new nationwide survey ran risks on the country’s roads this past year by driving while legally drunk, a study from the Canadian Automobile Association suggested Wednesday.

The poll of 2,000 randomly selected Canadians found 24 per cent of respondents admitted to driving after consuming what they thought was enough booze to put their blood alcohol level near or above the legal limit.

Their actions contradicted their own beliefs that impaired driving is a dangerous practice, the CAA said, adding the study found 98 per cent of Canadians condemned drinking and driving as “unacceptable.”

Jeff Walker, CAA vice-president of public affairs, said the association was taken aback by the number of people willing to flout their beliefs and drive while impaired.

“We find it pretty surprising,” he said in a telephone interview. “I think our sense was that because it’s become such a socially unacceptable thing to do that maybe we’d see 10 per cent or something like that. So to see something in the 25 per cent range was fairly surprising.”

The risky behaviour tended to be a one-off for most survey respondents, Walker said.

The study found 22 per cent of those who admitted to driving while impaired said they only did so once during the past year.

The findings highlight the fact that Canadians only tend to roll the dice on dubious driving practices at specific times of year.

“The incidents of people doing this are once or twice or maybe three times a year,” he said, adding the current holiday period is particularly rife with examples.

“Our sense of it is there’s just a couple of occasions a year where maybe they think that they aren’t quite over the line, or they’re very close to home, or they come up with a rationale as to why they can probably drive. It seems to be this kind of thing where people are maybe just not making the right judgment call.”

Canadian men, residents of Quebec and people under 35 were most likely to drive while potentially impaired, the poll suggested.

The study also indicated about 28 per cent of Canadians said they have gotten behind the wheel of a vehicle after consuming one or two drinks.

Walker said such behaviour is perfectly legal, but urged Canadians not to flirt with the upper range of the blood alcohol limit.

“We’re advocates of where the law is today, which is .08, which is for most people you’re talking about two glasses of wine,” he said.

“But people have to be really rigorous, and they have to stay far below the line. It’s not about being at .07, it’s about being reasonable and understanding that when you’re close, we’re hopeful that people will make the judgment to just get in a cab.”

The survey is considered accurate within 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.