Calls to reduce blood-alcohol limit to 0.05 in Quebec
Posted February 7, 2024 10:34 am.
Last Updated February 7, 2024 10:42 am.
The Quebec Public Health Association (ASPQ) will be recommending the blood-alcohol limit for driving be lowered to 0.05 per cent before a parliamentary committee in the National Assembly on Wednesday.
Currently, under the Quebec law, it’s illegal to drive a vehicle with a blood-alcohol content (BAC) of 80 mg or more of alcohol per 100 ml of blood, or 0.08.
The Commission des transports et de l’environnement will be holding consultations and public hearings on Bill 89, An Act to amend the Environment Quality Act to strengthen compliance.
ASPQ Director General Thomas Bastien says that almost every day in Quebec, there is a death or serious injury because of alcohol-impaired driving.
He says that scientific data and experience in other jurisdictions shows that the 0.05 BAC limit is a promising measure that is attracting growing public support.
The ASPQ adds that last fall, coroner Yvon Garneau recommended to the authorities to lower the blood alcohol limit for motorists from 0.08 mg/100 ml to 0.05 mg/100 ml as soon as possible, and to update the Highway Safety Code accordingly.
Coroner Garneau also stated that there was evidence of less fatal accidents with a limit of less than 0.05 elsewhere in Canada and around the world.
The limit is 0.05 in all Canadian provinces except Saskatchewan, where it is set at 0.04.
Following the publication of coroner Garneau’s report, Minister Geneviève Guilbault’s office sent an e-mail to The Canadian Press stating that her government was not considering a review of the legal limit for drinking and driving.
This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews.
