Impaired driving is the most prominent factor for serious road crashes in Canada

Over 40% of drivers have consumed alcohol and smoked cannabis and gotten behind the wheel, a new U.S. study found.

The latest MADD Canada statistics from 2019 show there were 86,864 alcohol and drug-related charges laid against drivers.

Statistics Canada says the police-reported impaired driving rate increased by 19% in 2019 from 2018.

“Alcohol and cannabis are two of the most common substances involved in impaired driving and motor vehicle crashes (in the United States),” said Priscila Dib, a postdoctoral research fellow in the epidemiology department at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health in New York City.

When a person drives with booze and pot in their system, their cognitive function and physical movements are affected, which impacts driving performance, according to research.

“Cannabis is second only to alcohol among substances found in drivers involved in crashes or charged with impaired driving. It is also the most frequent drug found mixed with alcohol in those involved in vehicle crashes,” according to CAA National.

A CAA pole found 12% of Canadians aged 18 to 34 believe they are better drivers after smoking pot, which is wrong, and one in five say they have driven high or been in a vehicle with a stoned driver.

Use of alcohol and pot together led to more fatal driving related outcomes, especially with younger people, the study found.

“But there hadn’t been a nationally representative study of these associations among adults ages 16 and older until now,” according to the new study’s authors.

Driving impaired by alcohol or drugs remains the most prominent factor for serious road crashes in Canada, according to the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction.

“Although significant progress has been made over the past three decades, impaired drivers continue to present a significant risk to the safety of all road users,” the Centre said. “It is estimated that of all persons who die in a motor vehicle crash, between one-third and one-half involve a driver who had consumed alcohol, drugs or both.”

More than 34,000 drivers were questioned about their drug use and driving in the national survey by Columbia and more than half said they hadn’t driven under the influence of alcohol or cannabis, while 42.3% said they had.

“The high prevalence of people using both alcohol and cannabis who also reported driving under the influence in the past year was striking,” said the study’s senior author Pia Mauro, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

“Two in 5 people in the sample reported driving under the influence, which indicates that it is not a rare occurrence among people using these substances.”