Some things, such as not getting behind the wheel of your car, truck, or SUV, when you have had more than the legal limit should be common sense.
Granted, the low percentage means you really can’t imbibe with your fellows if you’re the designated driver or if you are thinking about driving home, but what are you really missing out on?
A hangover? Gut-rot?
Give me a break.
August is Impaired Driving Month, and the police want people to know what the consequences are, both for them as well as the people who are inadvertently injured as a result.
I’m sure many of you have heard that if you’re going to have a beer, you have to wait at least an hour before getting behind the wheel but there is nothing factual to back this up.
According to medical journals, the human body (on average) metabolizes at an approximate rate of 0.015 ounces per hour and a 12-ounce glass of beer will raise your blood alcohol concentration by approximately 0.02.
With that level of alcohol in a person’s bloodstream, they could be looking at a minimum of a 30-day licence suspension, as well as a 7-day vehicle seizure.
And that is on top of the fines, demerit points and potential civil liability or insurance claims if they hit someone.
It isn’t just alcohol either.
A police-issued press release, on the topic of impaired driving, states that a recent Canadian study found drug use among nighttime drivers exceeded that of alcohol use.
In 2013, Statistics Canada reported 80 fatalities and 1,133 injuries associated with vehicle collisions linked to alcohol or drug use.
Facts and numbers aren’t doing the public any good however, at least in my opinion.
Over the last five years, approximately 8,600 Albertans were convicted of impaired driving — I quote the Morinville RCMP press release here — and that means 1,720 per year, or 143 per month.
That means, if the numbers are correct, that 143 people are going to make the wrong decision this month.
They will be on the road and they will be endangering, not only themselves, but you, me, our kids, our grandparents, our friends, or co-workers too.
The onus lies on the drivers as well as the people around them however.
If you know someone has been drinking, or if they’ve taken drugs, and you let them get behind the wheel — if they kill or maim someone while they’re driving, it’s my opinion that you are just as guilty.
Sounds harsh, doesn’t it?
Imagine how it feels to be the police officer that has to make the call.
