What is the international trend?
Is there an international trend to criminalize drivers at the .05 level? In 2002 the Canada Safety Council commissioned a study to provide a credible, detailed analysis of how Canada’s blood alcohol laws compare with other developed countries. The Council wanted a legal expert to examine Canada’s blood alcohol limits objectively in the international context. Law professor David Paciocco, from the University of Ottawa, compared Canada’s blood alcohol legislation with similar laws in countries which have similar legal and political traditions. In Canada’s Blood Alcohol Laws – an International Perspective he found that approaches to BAC law internationally are complex and varied. The report was updated in March 2006 to determine whether recent developments affect its conclusions. “There have been changes,” says Professor Paciocco, “but they do not alter the conclusions in my original report. Countries and jurisdictions with .05 limits still tend not to use criminal law approaches, which i
