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Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique logoLink to Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique
. 2002 May 1;93(3):176–180. doi: 10.1007/BF03404995

The Early Effects of Ontario’s Administrative Driver’s Licence Suspension Law on Driver Fatalities with a BAC > 80 mg%

Robert E Mann 14,24,✉, Reginald G Smart 14, Gina Stoduto 14, Douglas Beirness 34, Robert Lamble 44, Evelyn Vingilis 54
PMCID: PMC6979966  PMID: 12050982

Abstract

Background: On November 29, 1996, Ontario introduced an Administrative Driver’s Licence Suspension (ADLS) law, which required that anyone charged with driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) over the legal limit of 80 mg% or failing to provide a breath sample would have their licence suspended for a period of 90 days at the time the charge was laid. This study evaluates the early effects of Ontario’s ADLS law on alcohol-involved driver fatalities.

Methods: Interrupted time series analysis with ARIMA modelling was applied to the monthly proportion of drivers killed in Ontario with a BAC over 80 mg% for the period Jan. 1, 1988 to Dec. 31, 1997.

Results: A significant intervention effect was found, with ADLS being associated with an estimated reduction of 17.3% in the proportion of fatally injured drivers who were over the legal limit.

Conclusion: These data provide an early indication that the law resulted in some success in reducing alcohol-related driver fatalities.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements: This research was supported by grants from the Alcoholic Beverage Medical Research Foundation and from AUTO21, a member of the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) progamme which is administered and funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), in partnership with Industry Canada. The Traffic Injury Research Foundation fatality database is funded by the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators and Transport Canada. We are thankful to Manon DeGroseilliers for her assistance with the fatality database

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