Alcohol and Driving

Alcohol impairs performance on a wide variety of measures, ranging from simple reaction time and eye-hand coordination tasks to measures of judgment and ability to perform several tasks simultaneously. Tasks requiring divided attention (such as watching for oncoming traffic and changing traffic lights at the same time) are most sensitive to alcohol effects. Impairment of these tasks has been observed at blood alcohol levels of 0.02%-i.e. a blood alcohol level below that which would occur after consumption of a single "standard drink" for many people. The more a person drinks, the more likely he or she is to drink and drive. A recent study found that 238 people receiving treatment for alcohol abuse collectively reported more than 24,000 drinking driving occasions in the previous year. Alcohol and other drug involvement is much more likely in nighttime crashes (8 p.m. - 4 a.m.) than in daytime accidents (4 a.m. - 8 p.m.).

FOR MORE INFORMATION, contact your nearest CAMH office (consult your local telephone directory), or call Drug and Alcohol Information Line, Ontario Toll-free 1-800-lNFO-ARF (1-800-463-6273), Metro Toronto 595-6111

Public information materials are available in print form from the CAMH Marketing Services (Telephone 1-800-661-1111, 416-595-6059)