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R. Solomon, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Western Ontario

MINIMIZING IMPAIRMENT-RELATED YOUTH TRAFFIC DEATHS Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety and Queensland Transport Monday, July 28, 2008 Brisbane. R. Solomon, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Western Ontario London, Ontario N6A 3K7 rsolomon@uwo.ca.

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R. Solomon, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Western Ontario

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  1. MINIMIZING IMPAIRMENT-RELATED YOUTH TRAFFIC DEATHSCentre for Accident Research and Road Safety and Queensland TransportMonday, July 28, 2008Brisbane R. Solomon, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Western Ontario London, Ontario N6A 3K7 rsolomon@uwo.ca This presentation is based on Youth and Impaired Driving in Canada: Opportunities for Progress, by R. Solomon and E. Chamberlain, which is available at www.madd.ca. Financial support for the project was provided by MADD Canada and Auto 21, a member of Canada’s Networks of Centres of Excellence Program.

  2. Goal and Scope • Review of the legislative measures that provinces and territories can implement to reduce impairment-related traffic deaths among youth. • The focus was on legislative reform; the study did not review awareness, educational and remedial initiatives. • Recommendations take into account: • likely level of public and political support for various measures; • current best practices in Canada and abroad; and • the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

  3. Approach We took a broader perspective than earlier studies. We included: • both teenagers (16-19 year olds) and young adults (20-24 year olds); • pedestrians, cyclists, and operators of snowmobiles and ATVs, as well as drivers and passengers; • a discussion of the apparently increasing rates of drug-impaired driving; and • recommendations on both driving, and the patterns of hazardous alcohol and drug consumption that generate impairment-related traffic deaths among youth.

  4. Section 1: The Empirical Bases For Developing Impaired Driving Policies For Young Canadians • Demographics and Licensing • Alcohol Consumption • Drug Use • Youth and Driving • Youth Crashes • Characteristics of Youth Crashes • Passengers • Alcohol-Related Crashes • Vehicles • Pedestrians

  5. Alcohol Consumption • 15-24 year olds have the highest rates of: • weekly and monthly binge drinking (5 drinks for males and 4 drinks for females on a single occasion); • consuming 5 or more drinks on a typical drinking day in the past year; • being harmed by drinking; and • hazardous drinking in the past year (8+ on the AUDIT scale). • In a 2005 Ontario survey, 29% of grade 7-12 students acknow-ledged riding at least once in the past 12 months with a driver who had been drinking, and 22% acknowledged riding with a driver who had been using drugs. These high rates of riding with drivers who have been drinking or using drugs are consistent with national, regional and other provincial data.

  6. Youth and Driving • Research has shown that perceptual, cognitive and vehicle-handling skills are less developed in beginning drivers than in experienced drivers. • Young drivers are more likely to speed, follow too closely, allow less time to merge with traffic, cross traffic lanes, pass other vehicles, and overestimate their driving abilities. • Young drivers have the highest rates of taking a risk while driving just for the fun of it, and the lowest rates of seatbelt use. • 19-24 year olds have the highest charge rates for federal impaired driving among any age group. • A 1999 Canadian study reported that nearly 80% of teenage passengers killed in a crash were travelling with a teenage driver.

  7. Percentage of Alcohol-Related Traffic Deaths and Population, by Age Group: Canada, 2003

  8. Youth Overrepresentation in Other Traffic Fatalities • 15-19 year olds constituted only 6.6% of the population in 2004, but accounted for 19% of both passenger fatalities and serious injuries. • During the late 1980s and the 1990s, 16-25 year olds accounted for 29% of fatally-injured snowmobile drivers and 36% of fatally-injured ATV drivers. Alcohol was involved in 75% of these snowmobile deaths and 46% of the ATV deaths. • In 2003, 16-19 year olds constituted 5.4% of the population, but 23% of the alcohol-positive pedestrian fatalities. • In 2003, over 82% of fatally-injured 16-19 year old pedestrians and 41% of fatally-injured 20-25 year old pedestrians had been drinking, and 75% of these pedestrians had BACs above .08%.

  9. Summary • Young people have the highest rates of traffic deaths and injuries per capita and per kilometre driven. Conservatively estimated, about 50% of these deaths are alcohol or drug-related. • Youth have the highest rates of risky driving, binge drinking and drug use. • As long as large numbers of young people continue to drink hazardously, they will dominate all categories of the alcohol-related traffic deaths.

  10. Section 2: The Regulation Of Alcohol • Minimum Drinking Age • Alcohol Availability • Regulatory Measures Geared Toward Youth • The Provincial Liquor Legislation • Alcohol Advertising and Marketing

  11. Alcohol Availability • There is a strong relationship between alcohol availability and both consumption and alcohol-related harms. • The factors affecting availability include: • price and taxation; • the existence of a government monopoly over off-premise outlets; • location and density of retail liquor outlets; and • hours and days of sale.

  12. The Provincial Liquor Legislation • The liquor legislation across Canada prohibits anyone from: • being intoxicated in public; • drinking in an unlicensed public place; or • selling, giving or supplying alcohol to a person who is or appears to be intoxicated or underage • The legislation provides police and liquor inspectors with sweeping authority to: • enter licensed premises; • investigate potential violations of the act or regulations; and • arrest without a warrant those who are reasonably believed to be breaching the legislation. • There is little commitment to rigorously enforcing the existing law or providing appropriate enforcement, administrative and prosecutorial resources.

  13. Enforcement • Ontario research indicated that bar and tavern patrons accounted for only 6% of the total number of drivers on the roads, but 16% of the drivers with BACs over .08%. • Young people above the legal drinking age tend to do the majority of their drinking in a relatively small number of licensed establishments that are well known to police and liquor authorities. • Research indicates that increased enforcement of the liquor laws in licensed establishments can reduce alcohol sales to underage and intoxicated patrons, and impaired driving charges.

  14. Summary • The provinces have broad regulatory powers to significantly reduce binge drinking among youth, and the alcohol-related crash deaths that these consumption patterns generate. • Of particular concern is the need to increase the enforcement of the current liquor legislation, especially in bars, taverns and other venues that cater to youth.

  15. Section 3: The Regulation Of Drivers’ Licences • Minimum Driving Age • Graduated Licensing Programs • Initial Stage • Intermediate Stage • Probationary Stage • Potential Concerns about GLPs • Zero BAC Restrictions for All Drivers Under 21 or for the First 5 Years of Driving

  16. Graduated Licensing Programs (GLPS) • GLPs are consistently associated with significant reductions in crash deaths and injuries among affected drivers. • An ideal GLP includes three stages: • an initial 12-month stage during which the new driver must be supervised at all times by a licensed adult and is subject to late-night driving, passenger and high-speed road restrictions; • an intermediate 12-month stage during which the driver can drive unsupervised in some situations, but is still subject to the late-night driving, passenger and high-speed road restrictions with some exceptions; and • a 24-month period of full licensure, subject to probationary terms and a zero BAC restriction.

  17. Zero BAC Restrictions for All Drivers Under 21 or for the First Five Years of Driving • All beginning and intermediate drivers should be required to have a zero BAC when driving. • The zero BAC restriction should continue until the driver is 21 or has been driving for five years. • Evidence from Canada and the United States indicates that zero BAC limits for young drivers are effective in reducing self-reported driving after drinking and traffic crashes among the targeted population. • A study of American and Australian states on zero BAC restrictions found post-law reductions in crashes in every case, including reductions in fatal crashes ranging from 9% to 24%.

  18. Enforcement of GLPs • The inability of police to readily identify affected drivers and enforce the GLP restrictions is a major problem. • A sign, such as a large “L” or “N”, should be attached to the vehicle to identify learners or novice drivers who may be subject to late-night driving, passenger and high-speed road restrictions. • The provinces need to grant the police broader powers to efficiently enforce the GLP. • The police must be granted authority to demand breath samples from drivers subject to zero BAC restrictions.

  19. Conclusion • While progress was made in reducing impairment-related youth traffic deaths from the early 1980s until the mid-1990s, little progress has been made since. Traffic deaths remain the leading cause of death for 16-24 year olds and, even conservatively estimated, about 50% are alcohol or drug-related. • Young people are significantly overrepresented in these deaths as drivers, and are overrepresented to an even greater degree as passengers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and snowmobile and ATV operators. • Projected increases in Canada’s youth population over the next five years will, in and of itself, increase the total number of youth traffic deaths and injuries. • Effective action is essential if we are to achieve even the modest goal of preventing youth traffic deaths and injuries from rising. Outlined below are five priority initiatives.

  20. Priorities For Action • Implementation of a comprehensive, three-stage GLP. • Enactment of a zero BAC restriction for all drivers under the age of 21 or for the first 5 years of driving. • Enactment of express statutory police power to stop vehicles, inspect documentation and demand breath samples from all drivers subject to the GLP and zero BAC restrictions. • Introduction of targeted sobriety checkpoints in areas where youth drinking, and alcohol/drug-impaired driving is common. • More rigorous enforcement of the existing liquor licence prohibitions against public intoxication, and serving alcohol to minors or intoxicated individuals, particularly in licensed establishments catering to youth.

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