Government Policies Partially to Blame for 24% of Canadians Driving Drunk?

It's just a question folks, and a fair one at that.

I was listening in to NewsTalk1010 the other day, and one of the topics of discussion was the results of a new CAA Study that came out which showed that 24% of Canadians drove drunk in the last year.

One of the listeners called into the show and said that the increased Taxi Rates -especially here in Toronto and Ontario- were a big driver behind the increase in Drunk Driving because put simply, people just can't afford to take a taxi home anymore because of the huge increases in the cost -not to mention the addition of the HST.

Add to this the fact that people are getting charged with public intoxication while waiting outside a bar for a taxi or their designated driver to take them home (SOURCE: Drunks fined while waiting for DD), and you now have 2 things that our Government has done to directly influence the increase in Drunk Driving in Canada.

I'm just saying...

Here's the story about the CAA Study from the CAA website:

One in Four Canadians Admit to Driving Intoxicated in Last Year

Nearly one quarter - 24 per cent - of Canadians have gotten behind the wheel in the last year believing they were above or near the legal limit for impaired driving, a poll for the Canadian Automobile Association has found.

A designated driver, calling a taxi or using public transit are all ways to avoid a potentially deadly accident due to drinking and driving, Walker added.

Among the findings of the poll of 2,000 Canadians, which is considered accurate to within 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20:

Opinion is virtually unanimous that drinking and driving is unacceptable. Nationally, fully 98% of respondents expressed this view, while 92% said it was completely unacceptable. Virtually no one (1%) felt that drinking and driving is acceptable. This opinion is shared from coast to coast with no less than 96% in any region calling drinking and driving unacceptable.

Despite this strong opposition to drinking and driving, nearly one in four Canadians admits that in the last year, they drove when their blood alcohol level was above or close to the legal limit. Nationally, 24% of respondents admit to driving under these circumstances at least once. Most (22%) say they had done so only once (9%) or rarely (13%). Just 2% said they had driven under these conditions fairly often. Residents of Quebec, those under the age of 35, and men were most likely to say they had driven when they thought their blood alcohol level was near or above the legal limit.

About the same number say they have driven after having a drink. Nationally, 28% said this, with 12% saying they had done so one or two times, 8% saying they had done so 3 to 5 times, and 8% saying they had done so six or more times. Women were more likely than men to say they had not had a drink before driving in the last year, while residents west of Ontario were most likely to say they had, compared to their eastern counterparts.

Here is a YouTuve Video from CAA which talks about the study: