Ottawa drivers are convicted of impaired driving less often than motorists in other parts of Ontario, but one town outside the city ranks among the province’s worst areas for drunk drivers.
The rate of impaired driving convictions in the city is about 19 per cent lower than in the rest of Ontario.
Data obtained by journalist Patrick Cain of Global News through the provincial Freedom of Information Act shows there were about 1.4 convictions for impaired driving for every 1,000 licensed drivers in Ottawa.
Across town, the conviction rate was highest among drivers living in Vanier’s K1L postal zone, but lowest in the neighbouring Rockcliffe and New Edinburgh areas.
The rates generally rise the farther drivers live from downtown.
The town of Renfrew, about an hour west of Ottawa, had among the highest conviction rates in the province, with four drivers convicted per 1,000, over a one-year period.
Only areas in Northern Ontario and more remote western regions of the province had worst rates than Renfrew.
Highway 17, which serves Renfrew, has seen many high-profile impaired driving fatalities over the years.
In general, the data show, rural Ontario residents have substantially higher impaired driving rates than people in cities. In Ontario postal codes designated as rural by Canada Post, there were 2.4 convictions for 1,000 drivers.
But in urban and suburban areas, where there is better access to public transportation, the rate was substantially lower, at 1.7 per 1,000.
Indeed, the data suggest a strong link between impaired driving convictions and accessible public transit. At just 1 conviction per 1,000 drivers, Metro Torontos rate was even lower than Ottawas. The Global analysis found conviction rates were lowest in the central Toronto area that is bisected by the Yonge St. subway line.
The data obtained by Global from the Ministry of Transportation covered impaired driving convictions between June 2010 and June 2011, broken down by forward-sortation area, the Canada Post term for zones covered by the first three characters of a postal code.
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