Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 21, 2026

Driving Under the Influence: How Music Listening Affects Driving Behaviors
Published on: March 27, 2019
Road safety impact of extended drinking hours in Ontario
E Vingilis1, A I McLeod, J Seeley
1Population and Community Health Unit, University of Western Ontario, 100 Collip Circle, Suite 245, London, Ont., Canada N6G 4X8. evingili@uwo.ca
Purpose:
On 1 May 1996, Ontario, Canada amended the Liquor Licence Act to extend the hours of alcohol sales and service in licensed establishments from 1 to 2 a.m. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the road safety impact of extended drinking hours in Ontario.
Method:
A quasi-experimental design using interrupted time series with a nonequivalent no-intervention control group was used to assess changes. The analyzed data sets are total and alcohol-related, monthly, traffic fatalities for Ontario, for the 11-12 p.m., 12-1 a.m., 1-2 a.m. and 2-3 a.m. time windows, for Sunday through Wednesday nights and for Thursday through Saturday nights, for 4 years pre- and 3 years post-policy change, compared to neighbouring regions of New York and Michigan.
Results:
The blood alcohol concentration positive driver fatality trends reflected downward trends for Sunday-Wednesday 12-2 a.m. and Thursday-Saturday 1-2 a.m. for Ontario and downward trends for Thursday-Saturday 12-1 a.m. and 2-3 a.m. for New York and Michigan after the extended drinking hour policy change. Ontario total fatality data showed similar trends to the Ontario blood alcohol positive trends.
Conclusions:
The multiple datasets converge in suggesting little impact on BAC positive fatalities with extension of the closing hours. These observations are consistent with other studies of small changes in alcohol availability.
Related Concept Videos
Social Traps
Protection of Alcohols
Protection
It defines a protecting group as the masking agent to make the more reactive species inert to a given set of conditions. This concept is depicted via the illustration of liquid flow through different outlets in an assembly of pipes. The analogy helps to understand the role...
Hypothesis Test for Test of Independence
H0: The two variables (factors)...
Insufficient Sleep and Sleep Deprivation
Sleep deprivation is a more severe form of sleep loss...
Substance Use Disorders Affecting Sleep
Understanding the concepts of physical dependence,...
Survey Safety

