RoadSmart Report | April, 2003

Designated drivers save lives

Traffic safety proponents like SGI have long supported the concept of the designated driver. It’s a simple idea – someone abstains from drinking any alcohol so they are able to drive their friends home safely at the end of the night.

The concept of designating a sober driver may seem straightforward, yet statistics tell us that many people are still drinking and driving.

"Too many people still believe they have the skills to drive safely after they’ve been drinking," says Shannon Ell, SGI’s Supervisor of Traffic Safety Promotion. "Alcohol affects your reaction time and your ability to concentrate on the road, and basically impairs your ability to drive."

Ell says that according to SGI statistics, on average 73 per cent of all fatal collisions involving a drinking driver in Saskatchewan are single vehicle crashes. In collisions involving a drinking driver where someone was injured, almost 60 per cent are single vehicle crashes.

Alcohol is also a significant factor in multiple vehicle collisions, but Ell says looking at single vehicle crashes especially underlines the role of the drinking driver because there are no other drivers involved whose actions may also have contributed to the crash.

"Over 60 per cent of these alcohol-related, single vehicle collisions occur at night when the drinking driver is on the way home," says Ell. "If these motorists had travelled with a designated driver instead, in all likelihood these collisions would not have happened."

Ell also points out that even if only one vehicle was involved in the collision, it doesn’t mean drivers are hurting only themselves. There are also passengers involved in over half of the collisions mentioned above.

In the absence of a designated driver, Ell says other options for a safe ride home include taking a taxi or bus, calling a friend or family member to pick you up, or walking home.

Contact: Shannon Ell
Supervisor, Traffic Safety Promotion
SGI
Regina
(306) 775-6179

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