Call 911 to report impaired drivers
By Karen Lazaruk, Senior Reporter
Airdrie Echo (Alberta)
Wednesday July 11, 2007
Impaired drivers remain a hazard on roadways and several programs have been established across Canada to alert members of the public of how to report them.
Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) recently kicked off Campaign 911 across Canada; the Ontario Community Council on Impaired Driving (OCCID) has been running Operation Lookout for several years; and the City of Edmonton recently created its own program, Curb the Danger, which is seeing promising results.
But, no matter what the program or community, the message is the same – call 911.
"It calls on our personal sense of responsibility to spot and report an impaired driver," Denise Dubyk, spokesperson for the Calgary and area chapter of MADD, said of the informational campaign.
Whether it's the holiday season, or just a regular Tuesday, Dubyk said impaired drivers are injuring and killing people on Canada's roads each day and that Campaign 911 aims to educate people about what to do: call 911; report the location, licence plate number, colour, make and model of the suspicious vehicle; give its direction of travel; and a description of the driver.
"Don't follow them," Dubyk added.
Airdrie RCMP Cpl. Dave Hardy of the traffic services unit said such calls are appreciated.
"There's not police cars everywhere," Hardy said. "It makes it easy for us to intercept these people."
However, when law enforcement is busy with more pressing situations, the City of Edmonton's Curb the Danger program has a method letting suspicious drivers know that they are being watched on the roads.
"The nice thing about the program is if we're too busy and not in a position to intercept some of these drivers, we send a letter to the registered owner," said Barney Stevens, of Edmonton's strategic traffic operations unit.
This way, Stevens added, those who are guilty discover that they were spotted and avoided charges – this time. As a side effect, it has also alerted several registered owners to the condition of those borrowing their vehicles.
"We've had some thank you notes from parents," Stevens said, adding that gratitude has also come from people who have sold vehicles, only to find the new owner never switched licence plates.
Since Curb the Danger came online in October, citizens, too, are getting the message – the strategic operations unit has received 4,962 calls reporting possible impaired drivers and intercepted 1,495 vehicles resulting in 462 drivers being charged with impaired driving. As well, 71 drivers have had their licence suspended for 24 hours.
And, Stevens said, other municipalities are expressing interest.
"We're starting to get a lot of queries about this program," Stevens said, adding that some are from as far away as California.
Such programs are still needed, according to OCCID spokesperson Anne Leonard, because despite all the work which has been done over the years to prevent it, impaired driving is still happening.
"They just don't get it," Leonard said of those who get behind the wheel after too many drinks.
And after getting away with it several times, Leonard said offenders may become more and more irresponsible.
"They get home safely many times and don't get caught, they can misinterpret that and think their driving must be OK," she said. "It gives them a false impression of what their driving was like."
A volunteer with OCCID since the late 1980s, Leonard said Operation Lookout could be the oldest of such informational campaigns in Canada, having operated in Ontario, as well as some communities in Newfoundland and Saskatchewan, for more than 15 years.
No matter what the organization or program, Dubyk, Stevens and Leonard all agree that the work they do has one goal – to empower drivers to report vehicles they suspect are being driven by impaired drivers.
Because even if nobody admits to it, impaired drivers are still on the roads.
"There are still just under four fatalities each and every day in Canada," Dubyk said of the impact of this crime.
Also see...
MADD Canada's Campaign 911
