Throughout the world similar trends have been seen in the numbers of fatally-injured drinking drivers, that is, a decline in the 1980s followed by an abrupt increase in the 1990s. This paper examines evidence from Canada in the years from 1980 to 1995 in more detail to assess whether the trend is actually still downwards. A variety of indicators are examined derived from the fatality database including the number of fatally-injured drivers testing positive for alcohol, the percentage of fatally-injured drivers with a blood alcohol content over 80mg% and the ratio of fatally-injured drink drivers to fatally-injured non-drink drivers. The authors conclude that there is still no adequate explanation for the trends seen either in the 80s or the 90s.
Abstract