Skip to main contentSkip to navigation

Toolbox: Impaired Driving Script

*Please note that presenter’s notes are italicized*

Slide 1: DEAL.org talks about Impaired Driving

Slide 2: What is impaired driving?

It is illegal to operate or drive any motorized vehicle while impaired, including a car, snowmobile, ATV, motorcycle, water vessel, aircraft or scooter. According to section 253 of the Criminal Code, operating a motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol or drugs is a criminal offence.

NOTE: Let students know that activities such as waterskiing or tubing behind boats, as well as riding a bike are illegal to do while impaired.

Sources: Criminal Code, section 253.
Ontario Ministry of Transportation

Slide 3: What are the different ways you can be impaired?

Fatigue or drowsiness: Fatigue, drowsiness, stress and distractions can all affect your ability to drive.

Slide 4: Alcohol

When you drink alcohol, it is absorbed into your bloodstream. It spreads throughout your entire body within 30 to 90 minutes, and takes about two hours for one serving to pass through your body.

Your BAC represents the number of milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood in your system.

The rate at which your body absorbs alcohol differs from person to person and even day to day. The same amount of alcohol may affect you differently depending on your body type, how much water you drink, if you’re stressed or tired, or even depending on your mood. Your metabolism also plays a factor in the rate at which your body gets rid of alcohol.

Alcohol: One drink can reduce your ability to concentrate and react to things that happen suddenly while you are driving. The more alcohol in your blood, the more difficulty you have judging distances and reacting to sudden hazards on the road.

Slide 5: Blood Alcohol Concentration

A Little Tipsy = 0.01 to 0.05 – relaxed/difficulty with accuracy or making quick decisions
Drunk = 0.05 to 0.09 – may feel confident, find it hard to remember facts/follow conversations or do several things at once
Wasted = 1.0 to 1.4 – can’t focus, simple tasks are more difficult, you may become emotional or angry, may run into or trip over things
Trashed = 1.5 to 1.9 – slurred speech, trouble walking, standing or focusing, may forget where you are, may become confused, dizzy or sick
Major Health Hazard = 2.0 to 4.0 – may pass out or fall into a coma, can die from alcohol poisoning

- A little tipsy: Your first drink may relax you – you may notice is that it will get harder to do things that involve accuracy and making quick decisions. (Have you ever tried to play a video game after a beer?)
- Drunk: According to the Criminal Code, it is illegal to drive when your BAC is of 80mg/100ml of blood (0.08) or above. You may feel increasingly confident, find it harder to remember facts of a movie, follow conversations or do several things at once.
- Wasted: You may not be able to focus on people, and simple tasks like changing a CD or tying your shoe may become increasingly difficult. You may become very emotional, cry or become angry. You may not be able to remember things and run into or trip over things.
- Trashed: Your words may slur, you have trouble walking or standing and your reactions are very slow. You find it hard to focus your eyes. You may forget where you are, become confused, dizzy and may get sick.
- Major Health Hazard: Your body may not be able to process any more alcohol and you can pass out or fall into a coma. Once your system reaches a BAC of .25, you can die from alcohol poisoning. If it reaches .4, you most likely will die.

Source: Transport Canada – Smashed: A Sober Look at Drinking and Driving

Slide 6: What is considered “impaired driving”?

When the alcohol content in a person’s blood is more than 80 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood, the person can be convicted of being “over the legal limit” (being “over 0.08)”. However, a person who is impaired by alcohol (not driving in a straight line, can not manage simple tacks, has slurred speech etc.) can be convicted of impaired driving, whether or not the person’s blood alcohol content was over the “legal limit.”

Source: Department of Justice – Fact Sheet On Impaired Driving

Slide 7: Scenario

Read the following scenario to the audience:

An officer suspects you are driving impaired – he pulls you over. He asks you a couple questions, sniffs the air and asks you to give a breath sample. He uses an approved screening device (ASD) to decide whether you have had enough alcohol to require you to take a breathalyzer test, which is more precise. If you can’t blow into the ASD for some reason, the officer may be able to get a warrant for a blood sample. It’s against the law the refuse to provide a breath or blood sample. Upon finding this out, you blow into the ASD, setting off the warning light – the amount of alcohol in your blood is over the legal limit. The officer suspends your license and calls a tow truck to tow your car. You are arrested, taken down to the station and you call a lawyer. You take a breathalyzer, which confirms you are over the legal limit. The police can now charge you under the Criminal Code. They take your picture, fingerprint you and give you a court date. If the courts determine you are guilty of drinking and driving, penalties can range from losing your license to jail time. Throughout the entire process, all you can think about is, wow – what if I had hurt someone?

Slide 8: Stats about impaired driving

Source: Transport Canada – Smashed: A sober look at drinking and driving

Slide 9: How can I help prevent drinking and driving?

If you are going to be out drinking, decide ahead of time how you will be getting home. Whether you have a designated driver who does not drink that night, call a cab, take the bus, or have a parent or friend to call – plan this before you begin drinking. The main point is, if you drink, don’t drive! If no other options are available, stay on a friend’s couch or the floor. Getting into a vehicle after you have been drinking endangers not only yourself, but those around you.

Slide 10: Impaired driving while under the influence of drugs

Slide 11: Drugs

Slide 12: How can drugs affect my driving?

Drugs slow down your reaction time. They make it harder to judge distances and make quick decisions on the road. They make it harder for you to steer, stay in your own lane and drive at a steady speed. You also may feel more tired or disoriented, and have a hard time concentrating on what you are doing.

Slide 13: Drugs, Driving and the Law

If an officer thinks you are driving while impaired by any drug, they will ask you to take a Standardized Field Sobriety Test. SFSTs are divided-attention tests that evaluate a subject’s ability to multitask and are administered at the roadside. The officer will check your eyes, see if you are having trouble keeping your balance or are showing other signs of impairment. If you do seem impaired, you will be taken to the police station where an expert will perform Drug Recognition Expert evaluations (DRE). DRE evaluations are a 12-step process that incorporates a series of behavioural assessments such as testing your coordination, a highly reliable eye test, interviewing you and taking your temperature and pulse rate. You will be asked to provide a urine, saliva or blood sample. Refusing to comply with the officer’s request is a criminal offence. The penalties for a conviction of driving under the influence of drugs are the same as those for driving while under the influence of alcohol (will be discussed further in slide 16).

Source: Transport Canada – Smashed: A sober look at drinking and driving
RCMP – Drug Recognition Experts

Slide 14: Is it safe to drive if you only drink a couple of beers and/or smoke a joint?

NOTE: Allow students to answer the question. Ensure that the information they give is not out of line with the purposes of the discussion. If they mention a fact they “heard of” or are not sure of, make note of it and address it or correct it later on.

Slide 15: What are the criminal consequences to driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol?

Slide 16: Minimum punishment Prohibition from driving

Minimum penalties for driving while impaired are outlined in the Canadian Criminal Code. They include:

In addition to these minimum penalties, each province may have its own additional penalties. Depending on the type of offence, the sentencing judge may also sentence the offender to serve a certain number of hours performing community service or to take part in an ignition interlock program, which requires an appropriate breath sample (below the 0.08 BAC) by the driver in order to start and run their vehicle.

NOTE: These are the minimums – the consequences are worse if you already have a suspended license or are convicted of impaired driving causing bodily harm or impaired driving causing death. Penalties for impaired driving causing bodily harm can result in a 10 year driving prohibition and up to 10 years in prison, while impaired driving causing death can result in a lifetime ban from driving, and life in prison.

Source: Department of Justice – Fact Sheet on Impaired Driving

Slide 17: Driving while fatigued, tired, drained, worn out…and such.

An often overlooked form of impairment is driving while tired or fatigued. People often do not act on the signs of fatigue early enough. Gauging your fatigue can be difficult, but learning to recognize warning signs is a great way to minimize your risk of driving while tired.

In Ontario alone, well over a million drivers (14.5%) admit that they have fallen asleep or nodded off while driving at least once in the past year.

In a 2008 survey conducted of Ontario police officers by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation, a majority of officers surveyed (95.9%) identified fatigued driving as a serious problem and most of them (89.2%) ranked the problem as being as important as, or comparable to impaired driving. Most of the officers who were surveyed (92.4%) also stated that they had stopped a driver they suspected to be impaired because of alcohol or drug use, only to discover that the driver was fatigued instead.

Source: Traffic Injury Research Foundation – The Facts about Fatigued Driving in Ontario – A Guidebook for Police

Ask students: What are some causes of fatigue? (Let them respond, filling in any answers they may not have come up with)

Answers:

Slide 18: If you find you ____, you may be fatigued.

Slide 19: What are some effects of fatigue?

Let students answer this question, then provide them with the following information.

Fatigue or drowsiness caused by fatigue can impair you in the following ways:

If you experience any of this symptoms or signs of fatigue while driving, you should stop and rest.

Ask students ways they can reduce fatigued driving. Allow students to give answers, and then proceed to the next two slides.

Slide 20: Ways to reduce fatigued driving

It is suggested to take 15-20 minutes nap and no longer since napping for more than 20 minutes can make you groggy for at least 15 minutes after waking.

Recognizing the onset of fatigue or drowsiness and taking a break before you start to feel fatigued or drowsy are very important; failing to recognize the warning signs of fatigue or drowsiness can seriously increase the chances for falling asleep or nodding off while driving. Once you start to feel fatigued or drowsy it may be particularly difficult to determine or gauge when you will actually fall asleep.

Source: Traffic Injury Research Foundation – Fatigued Driving
National Sleep Foundation – drowsydriving.org

Slide 21: Distracted Driving

Distractions while driving can also impair your ability to drive safely.

Slide 22: Distracted Driving

Source: Ottawa Sun, Wednesday September 30th, 2009. “Cell phone ban gets start date”

Slide 23: Penalties can include:

Provincial offences such as:

Criminal Offences such as:

A driver who causes a collision or who is observed driving unsafely while using a cell phone can be charged under a number of provincial, territorial or federal laws including but not limited to, those related to dangerous driving, careless driving and criminal negligence causing death or injury.

Source: Transport Canada – Cell Phones and Driving Info Sheets

Slide 24: Indirect Costs of Impaired Driving

Costs for being convicted of an impaired driving charge include:

Slide 25: Other costs pale in comparison to the cost of someone’s life.

While these costs may seem to add up, they come nowhere close to equalling the loss of a life. Impaired driving can have fatal consequences – you, those in the vehicle with you, or innocent bystanders who may be in the wrong place at the wrong time may pay with their lives.

Slide 26: Peer Pressure

Slide 27: Peer Pressure

Remember that you can have an effect on your peers as well. If you have a strong stance on impaired driving, others may follow in your footsteps. For example, if you refuse to get into a vehicle with someone who is impaired, others will be less likely to do so as well.

Slide 28: Hosting an event

If you are hosting an event, there are a couple things you can do to ensure it is safe and fun for all guests:

Source: MADD Canada – LCBO’s responsible hosting tips promote safe holiday entertaining
Transport Canada – Smashed: A sober look at drinking and driving “The Truly Thoughtful Host”

Slide 29: What can you do?

Let students offer some suggestions about what they can do to help prevent impaired driving.

Slide 30: If you spot an impaired driver…

Contact the police and give them the following information:

In order to prevent potential injuries or deaths, it is suggested to report suspected impaired drivers to local police by calling (Presenter: please insert the emergency number of your detachment if 911 is not available) or dialling 911. It is important to avoid creating a situation that is more dangerous than the one that you are trying to prevent, so contact police and let them handle the situation. When contacting the police, make available the following information:

Slide 31: Get Involved!

Contact your local student association or organization against impaired driving.

Hold an event or do classroom activities to educate others about impaired driving.

Being concerned about impaired driving is the first step toward acting responsibly. If you would like to take an active role in encouraging others to act responsibly, a number of routes may be considered.

You can contact your local student association against impaired driving to find out if a chapter already exists in your area. If none exist, you have the option of initiating and coordinating the creation of a local chapter. Visit www.cyaid.com for an example chapter and their successes.

You may undertake a smaller scale yet effective initiative by holding a school event promoting responsible driving or by doing classroom activities about impaired driving.

Slide 32: For more information visit:

Transport Canada

Traffic Injury Research Foundation

Department of Justice

Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Canada Safety Council

Ontario Community Council on Impaired Driving

If you want more information on impaired driving you may find the websites on the screen very useful.

Does anyone have any questions about the presentation?

Thanks for inviting me to come talk to you today!