Eight in 10 (78%) Canadians Willing (45% Very/34% Somewhat) to Have Technology Installed in Vehicle to Prevent Impaired Driving

Toronto, ON, February 6, 2020 — Without a doubt, all Canadians who take to the road can be at risk of being involved in an accident resulting from impaired driving – be it from alcohol, drugs, or drowsiness. A recent poll by Ipsos carried out on behalf of MADD Canada has found that 8 in 10 (78%) of Canadians are willing to have technology integrated into their vehicle at no extra cost to them that would prevent it from being operated while the driver was in an impaired state. This includes 45% who say they are “very willing” and 34% who are “somewhat willing” to have this equipment installed.

While in-vehicle technology has yet to be perfected, the large amount of interest is certainly a encouraging step towards ending impaired driving in Canada. There is no statistically significant difference between genders when it comes to support for integrating this technology into their vehicles, though Canadians aged 55+ years seem more positive; they are the most likely of any age group to be “very willing” to have this technology (51%). However, that is not to say that younger Canadians are any less likely to support the in-vehicle detection systems; they are simply more likely to say they would be “somewhat willing” as opposed to “very willing”, perhaps due to concerns over privacy.

There is general nationwide support for incorporating this technology into passenger vehicles; only in Quebec is there slightly less enthusiasm. Although 29% of Quebecers say they are not willing (19% somewhat/10% very) to have this technology installed, the fact remains that 7 in 10 Quebecers (71%) still support these measures. Support for specific in-vehicle technologies will no doubt fluctuate based on considerations such as intrusiveness, convenience, hygienic considerations, and maintenance cost, but Canadians have their hearts in the right place when it comes to helping stop preventable injuries and deaths caused by impaired driving.

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between January 21-27, 2020, on behalf of Dying with Dignity Canada. For this survey, a sample of 3,502 Canadians aged 18 years and over was interviewed. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ±1.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadian adults been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Sean Simpson
Vice President, Canada, Public Affairs
+1 416 324-2002
[email protected]

Chris Chhim
Account Manager, Canada, Public Affairs
+1 514 904-4336
[email protected]

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