ALCOHOL AND DRUGS ARE A VOLATILE COCKTAIL

BCAA's Traffic Safety Foundation offers some very real
statistics.

Impaired drivers cost the B.C. economy $1.6 billion annually. That
startling statistic says little about personal injuries and death, too
often the aftermath of impaired driving.

Allan Lamb, executive director of the BC Automobile Association
Traffic Safety Foundation, would like to get all drivers under the
influence off the roads this holiday season.

According to Lamb, carnage due to impaired driving is on the
rise.

"One in five people in B.C. admit to driving after drinking and a
third of all motor vehicle fatalities are alcohol-related," he said.

"Impaired drivers kill two people and injure 60 every week on B.C.
roads. The holidays should be a joyful time, no question, but people
need to be responsible, and understand it is not just their own life
they are putting at risk."

And alcohol isn't the only culprit, Lamb said.

Prescription medications, over-the-counter drugs, and street drugs -
including marijuana - all impair a person's ability to safely operate
a vehicle.

Combine any of them with alcohol and the results can be lethal, said
Lamb, pointing especially to increasing use of pot.

"Marijuana is the most commonly detected illegal substance in drug
tests on drivers," Lamb said.

"On its own, marijuana affects a person's concentration,
attention-span, alertness, hand-eye coordination, time and distance
perception, slows reaction time, and impacts a range of other
driving-related skills that impair a driver's ability to respond to
unexpected dangers on the road," he said.

"In B.C., studies have shown that as many as 14 per cent of drivers
involved in fatal motor vehicle crashes had marijuana in their systems."