VANCOUVER – A new study suggests British Columbia’s controversial drinking and driving laws have reduced the number of deaths from alcohol-related crashes by more than 40 per cent since September 2010.

The study out of the University of Victoria says an estimated 104 lives have been saved since the laws were introduced, there’s been a 23-per-cent reduction in the number of injuries, and property damage has been slashed by nearly 20 per cent.

Lead study author Scott Macdonald, from the university’s Centre for Addiction Research, says B.C. is the only province in Canada that has immediate consequences for drivers with blood alcohol levels of higher than .05 per cent, below the Criminal Code threshold of .08 per cent.

Macdonald says other provinces and territories should have similar legislation to B.C., where immediate sanctions have largely replaced the Criminal Code, which had more severe penalties but a lower probability of punishment.

In B.C., impaired drivers are prohibited from being behind the wheel from three days to 90 days, depending on how much they drank, their vehicle can be impounded for up to a month and they are fined up to $500.

In March, the B.C. Court of Appeal put off a review of the provincial law, which was challenged by several drivers.