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Quebec police say cutting blood-alcohol limit to .05 would save up to 14 lives a year

Click to play video: 'Montreal parents determined to keep fighting to lower Quebec’s blood alcohol limit'
Montreal parents determined to keep fighting to lower Quebec’s blood alcohol limit
RELATED: A West Island couple is vowing to keep up the fight to toughen drunk driving rules in Quebec. Earlier this month, MNAs rejected a proposal to impose sanctions on drivers caught with a blood-alcohol level of 0.05. As Global’s Felicia Parrillo reports, seven years ago, the couple's daughter was killed by a drunk driver -- they say they will fight on in her memory – Feb 29, 2024

Quebec provincial police estimate that reducing the legal blood-alcohol limit to .05 would save between 10 and 14 lives every year on the province’s roadways.

Those figures are contained in heavily redacted documents obtained by The Canadian Press through an access to information request.

The Coalition Avenir Québec government has steadfastly refused to lower the limit to .05 from .08 — which represents 80 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood — despite previous calls from the province’s automobile insurance board and a Quebec coroner.

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All other provinces have established a legal limit of .05 or lower — above which drivers could have their licences revoked or face other sanctions.

Speaking to reporters in Quebec City, Public Security Minister François Bonnardel says the unredacted documents would not be released and the province has no plans to lower the limit, which aligns with what is in the federal Criminal Code.

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The documents use figures from Alberta and British Columbia to project that Quebec could expect up to 14 fewer fatalities with the lowered limit, of which up to six would be in regions patrolled by the provincial police.

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