Overview - Statistics
The Magnitude of the Alcohol/Drug-Related Crash Problem in Canada: Overview
MADD Canada has adopted a comprehensive approach in assessing the magnitude of the alcohol/drug-related (impaired) crash problem in Canada. MADD Canada has attempted to obtain a complete picture of the problem that encompasses: both alcohol and drugs; all types of vehicles and vessels; the full range of harms and losses (fatalities, injuries, property damage, and their societal financial costs); and crashes that occur on public roads and property, private roads and property, or on the water. This inclusive approach to the data is mandated by MADD Canada's mission, which is to assist all victims of impaired crashes and to reduce the total number of such fatalities, injuries and crashes.
Other organizations and government agencies also publish reports on the impaired crash problem in Canada. Their data often differ from MADD Canada's because they have defined their terms of reference more narrowly. For example, their fatality statistics may be limited to alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes occurring on public roads. Similarly, their injury data may be limited to crashes that the police attend, and for which they write a formal report. Simply because their data differ from that of MADD Canada does not mean that their data are inaccurate. Rather, these differences typically reflect their more limited scope of inquiry.
Fatalities
In 2008, it was estimated that 2,694 individuals were killed in motor vehicle crashes in Canada. MADD Canada estimates that at a minimum 1,162 of these fatalities were impairment-related. Moreover, in MADD Canada's opinion, the 1,162 figure is a conservative estimate, due to the underreporting that results from the inability totest surviving impaired drivers and reliance on police reports.
As well, the 1,162 fatalities do not include individuals killed in impaired crashes on the waterways. In 2005, it was reported that there were 126 boating fatalities, 47 of which involved known or suspected alcohol use. Nor do the 1,162 fatalities include fatalities arising from aircraft, trains and industrial vehicles such as forklifts.
Given the limits on the 1,162 fatalities figure, MADD Canada estimates there are somewhere between 1,350 and 1,600 impaired crash fatalities in Canada each year (3.7-4.4 deaths per day).
Injuries
In 2008, it was estimated that about 317,892 individuals were injured in motor vehicle crashes. MADD Canada estimates that approximately 68,538 of these individuals were injured in impaired driving crashes (roughly 190 per day). Note that this figure is limited to motor vehicle crashes only.
Property Damage
In 2008, it was estimated that approximately 1,751,100 motor vehicles were involved in property damage-only crashes in Canada. MADD Canada estimates that approximately 149,028 of these crashes involved impaired driving (roughly 408 per day). Note that this estimate is limited to motor vehicle crashes only.
Estimated Cost of Impaired Driving Crashes
Using a social cost model, the cost of impaired driving deaths, injuries and property damage-only crashes in Canada in 2008 has been estimated at $21.62 billion. This model is recent, is based on extensive analysis, and was prepared for the federal Ministry of Transportation. This figure is also limited to motor vehicle crashes.
Sources for the Data
The estimates for impaired driving used in this document are explained in a report entitled " Estimating the Number and Cost of Impairment-Related Traffic Crashes in Canada: 1999 – 2008."OPEN IN NEW BROWSER by Associate Professor Stephen G.A. Pitel and Professor Robert Solomon, both of the University of Western Ontario. That report is based in part on an earlier discussion paper, "Estimating the Presence of Alcohol and Drug Impairment in Traffic Crashes and their Costs to Canadians: 1999 to 2006" by G. William Mercer of Applied Research and Evaluation Services, University of British Columbia.
[Revised January 2011]
