Rid Roads of Impaired Drivers

Let's Make a Brand New Ending!

For most residents of Vancouver Island Labour day is a fun, relaxed time to join family and friends to celebrate the end of summer and welcome in the fall. September will soon be here and that will mark the end of vacation time for most of us. September is a time to begin again, back to work, back to school and back to the clubs and organizations that swing back into action this time of year.

Traffic will change again. Many of the boats and recreation vehicles now traveling the highways will be off the road, while school buses and student driven vehicles will return. Traffic will change, but the risks won't, unless we all get the message that “It Wouldn't Kill You To Slow Down” or “Traffic Crashes Occur Most Frequently at Intersections”. Do those messages sound familiar? They should, ICBC, the Autoplanbrokers and the Safer Cities program have brought them to you all summer long. You should have seen them in the newspapers and heard them on the radio, seen them on billboards on the highway. Sadly, the number of crashes, deaths and injuries on our Island roads and highways this summer showed that not everyone is getting the message.

While impaired driving is still the leading criminal cause of death in Canada it is not the leading cause of motor vehicle crashes. Two thirds (66%) of all traffic crashes occur at intersections and almost every crash is caused by driver error. The cause is usually driver inattention leading the driver to either fail to yield the right of way when turning left or following too closely and causing a rear end collision.

These are the facts:

One in four people who die in traffic crashes are killed in traffic crashes in intersections.
More than half of the unbelted drivers who die in traffic collisions were ejected from their vehicles.
Speed is a factor in one in six fatal collisions.
Impaired driving is the leading criminal cause of death in Canada.
So, the answer is simple. If people would choose not to drink and drive, to slow down, wear their seat belts and drive with safety as their first concern, we could dramatically reduce the number of crashes, deaths and injuries. Is it possible to reduce crashes and save lives? Of course, it is, but will the majority of us choose to do so? Only time will tell.

However, ignoring these facts puts us all at risk. Those most at risk are our young people. The greatest risk to our youth is their lack of awareness of danger and their strong sense of invulnerability. We see the tragic consequences in the daily news, road crashes, driving at high speed, combining drugs, alcohol and driving, drowning in the Nanaimo River, dying while combining skateboarding and motor vehicles. All these activities increase the risk of death and injury; kill our young people or cause them to suffer life-altering injuries.

We need to get a message to our youth, a message to think about the consequences of their actions, to slow down and drive less aggressively. But will they hear our message when we are ignoring it ourselves? I don't think so.

I think if we want to change things we need to look at ourselves first. We need to set a better example. I would like to share a quote by Carl Bard, “Though no one can make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”

This September let's make a brand new ending and all do our part to make our roads and highways safer for everyone. Let's work together because

Together We Can Make a Difference.

Joan Parsons
President
Rid Roads of Impaired Drivers