Impaired drivers in northeast feel entitled, experts say

Feelings of entitlement are very common among drunk drivers in northeastern Ontario, according to experts.

There is no exact stereotype of a drunk driver.  In reality they are all ages and demographics and from different walks of life, according to OPP Insp. Mark Andrews, in charge of overseeing the Northeast Traffic and Marine Unit. 

“You would think that these hard-core people who are drinking and driving must be of an era when it was more socially acceptable, but unfortunately it is not,” Andrews said.

However, experts say that the common link between most impaired drivers is their attitude of entitlement.

“Because we do have a culture of privilege, we are privileged to drive, and people believe we are privileged to use alcohol, and privileged to use substances,” said Brenda Stankiewicz, a public health nurse in Sudbury.

Stankiewicz said a recent study of Sudbury area teens found five per cent admitted to drinking and driving.

“If we look at the adult population, and we look at the number of people who are involved in collisions, I would imagine those numbers are even greater,” she said.

Impaired drivers, or those suspected of being drunk behind the wheel, are responsible for killing 10 people on northeastern highways in the past five years.