Rid Roads of Impaired Drivers

D.R.I.V.E. 05 - The Graduation Gift of Champions

DRIVE is an acronym for the Demonstrating Responsibility in Vehicle Education program, a program that is unique to Nanaimo and has been quietly changing lives since March of 2003. But this year the program is moving to a new level. It is called DRIVE 05 and it has been designed to have a powerful impact on the students graduating from School District 68 this year. It is the result of a community partnership that has brought together a very diverse group of people willing to work together for a common cause; to reduce the number of crash incidents involving youth in Nanaimo.

Originally the program was presented at the ICBC Claim Center and designed for students in the Graduated Licensing Program or Defensive Driving Courses. It has been a partnership between RRID, ICBC, the RCMP, Nanaimo Safer City and Arrowsmith 2000 Driver Training, Cowichan School of Motoring, Oceanside Driving School, Parkway Driving Academy, Safe ‘n Sure Driving Centre and Ziggy’s Driving Academy

As the program developed CARS BC accredited DRIVE as an educational program, Budget Rent a Car donated a van to drive Parksville/Qualicum students to the Claim Center. The RCMP liaison officers at High Schools referred students who have displayed unsafe driving, the First Nations representatives referred youth to the program as did the John Howard Society. Concerned parents also referred their own children. The Clippers Hockey Team and the Malaspina Mariners Baseball Team have also attended the program.

The program has grown and developed over the years and in September 2004 Constable Lewis Stone approached ICBC with the idea of putting together a road safety event for all the graduating students in School District 68. Constable Stone’s idea has grown into DRIVE 05, a separate and very ambitious program. The seven liaison officers for School District 68, Cst. Diane Floyd, Cst. Pat Flannery, Cst. Sarah Mattes, Cst. Ingrid Thatcher, Cst. Wayne Vaughn, Cst. Todd Wooton, and of course Cst. Lewis Stone have been the champions for this project.

The school liaison officers approached and received funding from the PAC groups of each school. They made a successful application for funding from the Mounted Police Foundation. Thrifty Foods has agreed to provide juice, cookies and fruit, Subway Sandwiches and Salads agreed to provide sandwiches. The Constables raised all of the funds needed for this endeavor from the RCMP Foundation Fund, Cedar Community Police, First Memorial Funeral Services, Lantzville Rotary and Sidney Tire Auto Service, John Barsby PAC, Cedar High School PAC, Dover Bay High School PAC, Ladysmith High School PAC, Nanaimo District High School PAC, Wellington High School PAC and Woodlands High School PAC.

DRIVE 05 will be taking place on Tuesday, April 19 from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm at the Port Theatre, Coast Hotel, Wharf Street and Harbourfront Plaza. Every graduating student in District 68 will be brought to these locations where they will be given the opportunity to see the consequences and hear the results of drinking driving and speed related crashes.

• They will hear Marc Savard who with help from the students will weave his hypnosis skills and his horrific crash story into an unforgettable interaction with his audience.
• They will see crashed vehicles and see first hand what can happen in a high speed crash.
• I will represent RRID and share my story of the impact that impaired driving has had on my life and how it affects us all.
• They will hear from Wayne Senner of the P.A.R.T.Y. program in a “tell it like it is” program to educate teens about the consequences of drinking and driving.
• The B.C. Ambulance Service will be represented by a paramedic who will take the students through each gripping step of a trauma call.
• Heather Charlton will speak from personal experience about how it feels to know you drove drunk and killed your best friend.
• Dr. Bruce Campagna, an Emergency Room Physician, will share frank descriptions of what he has seen in his work in the emergency room as the result of speeding, impaired and reckless driving.
• Constable Norm Smith, a Nanaimo Traffic officer, will share what he has seen as a result of alcohol or drugs and driving, cell phones and driving and reckless driving.
• The Nanaimo Fire & Rescue Team will share their experience as first-responders at car crashes.

DRIVE 05 is a unique partnership combining the skills, talents, knowledge, commitment and experience of a very diverse group of people, businesses and organizations. We are coming together to provide every student with education and awareness in road safety. The partnership is committed to ensuring that safe driving messages are delivered to all students in the Graduating Class of 2005 in School District 68.

By the time the students complete DRIVE 05 they will have been empowered to recognize risks and make informed choices about driving; a graduation gift beyond measure.

RRID is both pleased and proud to be part of this huge undertaking. We hope this event will be hugely successful and become an annual event. We would like to offer a salute to the RCMP Constables who not only conceived the idea but brought the community together to make it a reality. Nanaimo is very fortunate to have this team of School Liaison Officers who care so deeply about our community, our youth and road safety. Their dedication and commitment to the community speaks volumes of the type of officers they are becoming. They are true champions and we salute them and hope that you do too.

Joan Parsons
President
Rid Road of Impaired Drivers