Facts about Impaired Driving in Saskatchewan (based on the five-year average from 2019 to 2023):

• Impaired drivers are involved in four out of every 10 fatal collisions.
• Approximately 7% of all injury collisions involve an impaired driver.
• Of the average 32 people killed annually, 60% were impaired drivers.
• Most fatal impaired driving collisions occur on highways, while most injury collisions involving impairment happened on urban streets.
• Warmer months (June to September) see the highest number of fatal collisions involving alcohol or drugs. These crashes most frequently occur on weekends, especially during holidays and long weekends.
• The most likely time for impaired driving collisions — on any day — is between 6 p.m. and 3 a.m.
• Individuals aged 25 to 34 are involved in the highest number of alcohol- related collisions.
• Alcohol, although legal, is an addictive drug that depresses the central nervous system, affecting mood and behaviour, and significantly impairing driving ability.

The impairing effects of alcohol on the brain

Alcohol affects everyone differently. Blood alcohol content (BAC) may be affected by age, gender, physical condition, and amount of food consumed, medication and other factors. Also, different mixed drinks contain different amounts of alcohol, so it's important to know how much alcohol has been consumed, not just how many drinks the person has had.

Sequence of effects on the body

Alcohol is absorbed into the blood stream very quickly. As blood alcohol levels start to rise, the brain becomes increasingly sedated or drugged.

1. Judgment
   The first part of the body affected by alcohol is the brain, particularly the part of the brain that allows you to think clearly and make good decisions. Its sedative effects impair judgment in a way that is usually not noticed by the drinker. The part of the brain that controls social inhibitions is also affected, causing people to say and do things they normally would not. These effects start with one drink.
2. Muscle control
   The second part of the body affected by alcohol is muscle control. Due to the small muscles in the eye being very susceptible to the effects of alcohol, vision can be significantly affected, even at low alcohol levels.

Many people wrongly assess their ability to drive after drinking by observing physical dexterity (staggering, etc.). This is incorrect as the greatest percentage of alcohol-related collisions result from faulty thinking during the identification, prediction and decision parts of the driving task and not as a result of poor execution (steering, braking, etc.).

The brain functions that are first affected by alcohol consumption are not only important to our ability to drive safely, but are the same ones required to make rational decisions about not driving after drinking. For this reason, you must make the decision to separate your drinking and driving and make the necessary alternate transportation plans before you have that first drink! It doesn't make sense to drive after drinking. For more information on the effects of alcohol and drugs, contact your nearest mental health and addictions services office.

How alcohol affects you

Note: Guide based on averages – not for legal use. Information borrowed from Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

Likelihood of a crash

As the concentration of alcohol in the bloodstream increases, the body loses more and more of the functions required to drive safely. The increased likelihood of a crash begins long before drivers feel drunk or severely impaired.

It's important to understand BAC and its impact on driving at various levels. Driving impaired, even at low levels, is a real gamble.

The only truly safe BAC is 0%.

BAC and time

Only time can eliminate alcohol from the body. You cannot successfully sleep off a night of heavy drinking in a few hours. If you go to bed intoxicated with a BAC of .25% and alcohol leaves the system at a rate of approximately .015% per hour, this might be a picture of what happens: