Drunk drivers targeted heavily this holiday season
Thunder Bay's Source
November 19, 2008

Anyone stupid enough to drink and drive this holiday season ought to know there will be more police on the roads than ever, just waiting to arrest offenders and put them behind bars.

“You’re going to see RIDE programs in places you’ve never seen them before. There’s going to be more of them. The bottom line is don’t drink and drive,” said OPP Staff Sgt. Ken Mantey on Wednesday, during Mothers Against Drunk Driving’s annual red ribbon campaign launch.

Mantey wasn’t alone in his opinion. Last year the OPP, Thunder Bay Police, Anishnawbe Aski Nation police and the RCMP joined forces to rid the roads of as many drunk drivers as possible.

Sgt. Glenn Porter of the Thunder Bay Police Services’ traffic division said in this day and age there is no reason people should get behind the wheel when they’ve had too much to drink.

“Impaired driving is a very personal crime, but it’s a very preventable crime. People approaching a RIDE program can expect there will be no avoiding it,” cautioned Porter, adding local police are also trained to spot drivers under the influence of drugs and will be out in full force this holiday season putting their new techniques to the test.

The MADD campaign kick-off, staged on the national day of remembrance for road-crash victims, came a day after the province introduced new legislation, that if passed, would extend graduated licensing until a driver reaches 21, allow just one other teenager in a vehicle until they are fully licensed and enact a zero-tolerance blood-alcohol level for anyone under 21.

MADD Thunder Bay chapter president Lesley Read said promoting safe driving habits at a young age is always a good idea.

“All of this is going to help make safer drivers and safer roads,” Reed said. Reed, who lost a daughter to a drunk driver several years ago said getting behind the wheel when impaired is one of the worst decisions a person can make in their life.

“One second can change your life. You can be killed, you can kill someone. And it’s not just between you and them. There’s a rippling affect that affects family, relatives and the whole community. Think twice before you get behind the wheel,” she said.

It’s a message MADD is particularly trying to impress on local youth, especially high school students experimenting with alcohol for the first time. Westgate senior Elyse Schebesch, 17, said she has chosen not to drink, but knows there are plenty of reasons why many of her fellow students ignore the dangers and drive under the influence.

“I think that drunk driving is an unnecessary tragedy, and I think my age group is an age group is going to be the future, and we want to be the ones to stop it now so we don’t have to worry about it later,” Schebesch, a member of Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving, said.

Schebesch went on to say that most students likely aren’t planning on drinking when they go out, but fall victim to peer pressure and then aren’t mature enough to deal with the consequences of their decision.

“People don’t want to have to ask, they feel like they’re imposing on the person who’s having the party (to ask if they can) stay. They don’t want to leave their car there, they don’t want to get in trouble by their parents for staying out all night. So worse comes to worse and they get in their car impaired.”

Donations may be made to the red ribbon campaign at the MADD’s Thunder Bay office. They’re encouraging all drivers to tie one of their red ribbons around their antenna to show support for their efforts.