Alcohol-Crash Problem in Canada, 2006

NHTSA · 2009 · ROSA P / Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators

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Summary

This report, prepared by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF) for the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA) and Transport Canada, quantifies the magnitude and characteristics of alcohol-involved motor vehicle crashes in Canada during 2006. The study was motivated by the need to monitor progress toward the Strategy to Reduce Impaired Driving (STRID 2010), which aimed to reduce alcohol-related fatalities and serious injuries by 40% compared to a 1996–2001 baseline. The report provides a comprehensive overview of national trends and breaks down data by province and territory to assess regional performance. The methodology relies on two national databases maintained by TIRF: the Fatality Database and the Serious Injury Database. The Fatality Database, historically intact since 1973, compiles data from police reports and coroner/medical examiner files, focusing on objective toxicological results. In 2006, it recorded 3,122 fatalities, a figure higher than official transportation agency reports because it includes off-road and private property incidents. Testing rates for alcohol were high among fatally injured drivers (82.4%) but lower for pedestrians (59.4%) and passengers (26.5%). The Serious Injury Database captures crashes resulting in hospital admission, involving 18,771 drivers in 2006. Because drivers in serious injury crashes are rarely tested for alcohol, the report employs a surrogate measure to estimate alcohol involvement. This indirect method identifies a crash as alcohol-related if it was a single-vehicle crash occurring at night (9:00 pm to 6:00 am) or if police explicitly reported alcohol involvement. The report analyzes four primary indicators: the number and percentage of people killed in alcohol-related crashes; the prevalence of alcohol among fatally injured drivers and pedestrians; and the incidence of alcohol among drivers in serious injury crashes. The Fatality Database defines a motor vehicle fatality as death within 12 months of the crash. For serious injury analysis, the report notes data limitations in certain jurisdictions, such as British Columbia, where injury severity was not consistently recorded prior to 2005, and territories where injury classifications were often unspecified. The surrogate measure for serious injuries is acknowledged as a conservative estimate, likely undercounting the true magnitude of the problem due to the lack of chemical testing and inconsistent police reporting. The significance of this report lies in its provision of standardized, objective data to evaluate the effectiveness of road safety policies across all Canadian jurisdictions. By comparing 2006 data against the 1996–2001 baseline, the report offers a critical assessment of whether Canada is on track to meet the STRID 2010 objectives. The detailed breakdown by province and territory allows policymakers to identify regional disparities in testing rates and alcohol involvement, facilitating targeted interventions. The inclusion of both fatal and serious injury data ensures a holistic view of the alcohol-crash problem, recognizing that serious injury is a frequent consequence of impaired driving that warrants equal attention to fatalities.

Key finding

In 2006, 82.4% of fatally injured drivers in Canada were tested for alcohol, with testing rates varying significantly by jurisdiction, while a surrogate measure indicated substantial alcohol involvement in serious injury crashes.

Methodology

dataset

Provenance

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

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• alcohol
• incidence prevalence
• demographic disparities
• fatality injury trends

Information type

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• Empirical Findings: crash risk outcomes