Drunk driving is trending up in Ontario

After two people in Ontario were killed in less than two weeks by alleged drunk drivers, family members left behind are asking: Why do people still drink and drive?

"There's no excuse these days. Everyone knows drinking and driving is wrong and it kills," Rodney Rousell, a grieving father, told CBC Radio's Metro Morning in a recent interview.

"I just don't understand why my baby is gone." 

Rousell's 15-year-old daughter Maddy was struck and killed by a car in Brampton on July 12 while walking to his birthday celebration. The driver of that vehicle had been struck by an allegedly drunk driver, causing them to spin out of control and hit Maddy, Peel police said.

Just nine days later in Bowmanville, an allegedly impaired driver crashed into the back of an SUV before veering off the road and slamming into a family of three out for an evening walk. The father, 31-year-old Spencer McCracken, was killed, while his wife and infant daughter were injured, according to Durham police. 

Drunk driving continues to be a persistent problem in Ontario, with one in three road deaths involving impaired drivers, according to provincial data. 

Meanwhile, the total number of impaired driving charges laid annually steadily increased from 2020 to 2023, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) say. 

Between Jan. 1 and June 30 this year, OPP say they laid 3,339 impaired driving charges, up from 3,247 charges in the same period in 2023. Local police forces across the GTA told CBC Toronto they've seen hundreds of cases this year. 

In May, the provincial government announced new legislation that would impose tougher penalties for drunk drivers, including a lifetime licence suspension for those convicted of impaired driving causing death. The bill is currently going through its second reading. 

Alcohol distorts judgment

Few, if any, impaired drivers get behind the wheel with "malicious intent," said Allen Kharlip, an addiction specialist with Addiction Rehab Toronto. Alcohol distorts their judgment and their ability to make logical decisions, he said. 

"They do believe that they're OK to get behind the wheel and drive," Kharlip told Metro Morning.

Kharlip has treated patients who have driven while drunk before. As they reflect on their actions with a "sober and present mind," he said, they realize their decision-making was reckless. 

"But while they're in the moment, or in the process of it, they don't realize just how dire and impactful the consequences could be, until unfortunately it's too late," he said.

Alcohol addiction can also be a factor in a person's decision to drink and drive, Kharlip said. 

Once someone with an addiction "gets the train rolling" and starts drinking, he said they can blackout before making a judgment call — even if they had a plan beforehand to not get behind the wheel. 

Communicating with others can add logic back to alcohol-fuelled decision-making, Kharlip said. When someone else tells you that you've had too many drinks to drive, he said, that can counteract emotional, clouded judgment.

"If I stay silent, I might tell myself that it's OK to get behind the wheel because I don't think it's that bad," Kharlip said.

Harsher penalties may deter some people from drunk driving but don't necessarily account for the skewed judgment that leads to it in the first place, according to Kharlip.

When he announced the new legislation in May, Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said that drunk driving remains too pervasive a problem in the province.

"Too many families in Ontario have had their lives torn apart by the careless and shameful actions of impaired drivers," he said.

LISTEN | Father of teen killed by allegedly drunk driver speaks out:

Metro Morning10:23'I don't know why someone drinks and drives these days': Father of teen killed by alleged drunk driver tearfully shares his family's story

Rodney Rousell's daughter Maddy was killed in a crash. Peel police have charged the driver of the car, a Mississauga man, with refusal to comply with a breath demand, and dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death.

In a statement to CBC Toronto, a spokesperson for the ministry said their thoughts are with the family and friends of Maddy Rousell and Spencer McCracken.

"Impaired driving costs lives and puts all Ontarians at risk," the statement read. 

If passed, the legislation would also require anyone convicted of impaired driving to install an ignition interlock device, which prevents a vehicle from starting if alcohol is detected in a driver's breath sample.

For Rousell, the bottom line is that an alleged decision to drive drunk killed his daughter. If it weren't for that decision, Maddy would still be home with him, he said. Rousell said he is the sole earner in the family, and a GoFundMe has been set up to help the family make ends meet while he's unable to provide for them.

"She was the light of my life," he said. "I'm lost without her."