A Promise For Friends and Family
Certificate Here

This is a brand new year. We might stop to ask ourselves are we leaving important choices to chance? Letting other forces make decisions for us? Or are we planning ahead and making our own choices?

According to the Safety Clock operated by the Safety Council of British Columbia that lists traffic related injuries and fatalities occurring in British Columbia the following figures represent the totals for 1999:

88,990 Collisions
45,191 Injuries
468 Fatalities

It's obvious that too many people have been killed and injured. And we wonder how many of these crashes were preventable. What would the numbers be if we eliminated speed, road rage, and impaired driving? We know that approximately 30% of all B.C. road fatalities are alcohol related and those crashes are totally preventable.

Recent Provincial statistics show that most B.C. drivers are getting the message about drinking and driving. The CounterAttack program has laid 20% fewer charges than in the same period in 1998. There has also been a 4% decrease in the number of 24-hour suspensions. This would indicate a positive trend. More people are making better choices.

What about the people you love? Are they making the right choice when it comes to driving while impaired? How do you know? Have you ever discussed this issue with your family and friends? If not now, when? The time to make the right choice about getting home is before you go out.

A Promise For Family and Friends was written to help people plan ahead and make the right choices. Use it as a tool to begin a conversation about impaired driving with someone you care about. This document will also provide a commitment between you and that special someone. A commitment that could save the life of the person you love.

Please read A Promise For Friends and Family carefully, print it, discuss it and then sign it. Both of you should make a commitment to honor the promises you made. Keep this contract somewhere visible as a reminder of the commitment that you each made.

Know that you have made a wise and informed choice. It's your choice and your chance to make a difference.

Joan Parsons
President,
Rid Roads of Impaired Drivers