One in Four (24%) Canadians Admits to Having Driven while Legally Considered to be Impaired by Alcohol

Toronto, ON – One in four (24%) Canadians admits to having driven a vehicle when they could have been considered legally impaired by alcohol, according to a new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Global News.  Men (32%) are much more likely than women (17%) to say that this is the case. Interestingly those aged 55 and over (29%) and those aged 35-54 (26%) are more likely than those aged 18-34 (15%) to say they’ve driven while legally considered to be impaired by alcohol.

While 26% of Canadians say they’re not comfortable having any drinks over a four-hour period at an evening holiday party (where light snacks are served) and then driving, others are comfortable having one (30%), two (28%) or even three (7%) or four (5%) drinks over a four-hour period and then driving home. The average man who would still feel comfortable driving after consuming alcohol says they’d consume 2.4 drinks on average and still feel okay to drive, compared to 1.8 drinks for women. Millennials are confident drinking more (2.5) than Gen Xers (2.1) or Boomers (1.8) and then driving home.

Moreover, two in ten (16%) Canadians agree (4% strongly/12% somewhat) that they ‘feel comfortable driving after a few drinks, even though they might be over the legal limit’, a sentiment shared by a quarter of men (25%), Millennials (26%), and British Columbians (24%).

Similarly, one quarter (24%) ‘agrees’ (6% strongly/18% somewhat) that it is ‘okay to have a few drinks and then drive’, with men (33%) being twice as likely as women (16%) to agree. Millennials (39%) are by far the most likely to say it’s okay to have a few drinks and then drive compared to Gen X’ers (22%) and Boomers (15%).

With many Canadians feeling relatively confident about their ability to drive home after consuming alcoholic beverages, it’s interesting to note that one half (48%) of Canadians ‘agree’ (20% strongly/28% somewhat) that ‘the legal limit for what constitutes impaired driving by alcohol is too low in Canada’, while the other half (52%) ‘disagrees’ (24% strongly/28% somewhat) that it’s too low.

Although many appear to think that the legal limit is too low, Canadians support strict enforcement of the law:

• Eight in ten (79%) ‘agree’ (51% strongly/28% somewhat) that ‘we need tougher laws on impaired driving – whether it involves alcohol or marijuana – in Canada’, while just two in ten (21%) ‘disagree’ (7% strongly/14% somewhat) that stricter laws are needed.
• Three quarters (73%) ‘agree’ (44% strongly/28% somewhat) that ‘police should be allowed to randomly require all drivers to give a breath test to help detect impaired driving’, compared to one quarter (27%) who ‘disagree’ (12% strongly/16% somewhat) with roadside breath tests.

Eight in ten (83%) Canadians ‘agree’ (54% strongly/29% somewhat) that they’re personally concerned about the issue of drunk driving, although concern is lower among men (79%) and Millennials (76%), which likely informs their more relaxed attitudes about having a few drinks and then feeling comfortable about driving home.

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between December 16 and 19, 2016, on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1,000 Canadians from Ipsos' online panel was interviewed online. 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 +/ - 3.5 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
(416) 324-2002
Ipsos Public Affairs
[email protected]

About Ipsos

Ipsos ranks third in the global research industry. With a strong presence in 87 countries, Ipsos employs more than 16,000 people and has the ability to conduct research programs in more than 100 countries. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos is controlled and managed by research professionals. They have built a solid Group around a multi-specialist positioning-- Media and advertising research; Marketing research; Client and employee relationship management; Opinion & social research; Mobile, Online, Offline data collection and delivery. Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999. www.ipsos.com