Sask. has highest rate of drunk driving in Canada

(File photo)

Saskatchewan is leading the country in dunk driving incidents, a new Statistics Canada survey shows.

In 2011, the province had 683 incidents per 100,000 people – which is more than doubled the national average.

Saskatoon Police said that they’ve actually seen an improvement on the number of drinking and driving incidents in recent years, but note that they’re still frustrated by the number of impaired drivers on our roads.

“I’d like to think attitudes have changed, and in fact I’m sure they have,” said Staff Sargent Grant Obst, adding that when he talks to young people, they do seem to be very aware of the consequences of driving under the influence.

Despite the changes in attitude Obst has seen, nationally, the statistics show that impaired driving is age related. The highest rate of impaired driving occurs in drivers aged 20 to 24, and then then slowly declines with increasing age.

Nationally, police reported 90,277 impaired driving incidents in Canada. This is roughly 3,000 more than in 2012. Statistics Canada noted that while the majority of the incidents were alcohol-related, 2 per cent were drug-related.

Other clear national trends appear in the survey. Men commit the vast majority of impaired driving infractions with 82 per cent of Canada’s infractions.

While men might be charged with impaired driving more than women, their rates of impaired driving have actually been steadily declining for 25 years. Women’s rates, however, are on the rise. Impaired driving rates for women fell steadily until 1997, when they remained stable until 2005. After that, there has been a steady increase and now women account for one in every six impaired drivers on the road.