LifeSafer of Canada

People and Technology for Safer Communities

MADD SmartWheels is Rolling Through Ontario

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SmartWheels-Ontario-fullFirst, the facts: road crashes kill more 16 to 25-year-old Canadians than anything else. And alcohol and drugs are a factor in more than half of those crashes.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada is dedicated to lowering the number of alcohol-related crashes in the country. That can’t be done unless young drivers are taught to make the right choices from the start. To that end, MADD is offering a program in Ontario which takes the sober driving message to elementary schools: SmartWheels.

SmartWheels is a bus that houses a self-contained classroom complete with audio-visual equipment and devices for interactive media. The mobile classroom goes to schools in Ontario, where fourth and fifth graders participate in a 45-minute educational experience designed to get them thinking about making the right choice when pressured to drink and drive, or ride with a friend who is driving drunk.

smartwheels-experienceThe presentation includes a wide-screen HD video presentation about a boy, Dylan Krill, whose two best friends were killed by an impaired driver when they were 12 years old. Kids understand the value of friendship at that age, and Dylan’s profound story of loss makes a lot them think about the risks of drunk driving.

During the classroom experience the students also use tablets to answer questions about impaired driving, and discuss the answers as a group. They participate in “choose your own adventure” decision-making scenarios about impaired driving – invaluable preparation for what they’ll face in real life. They also get a chance to don VR “drunk” goggles to experience impairment virtually.

The goals of the SmartWheels program are:

  • Increase awareness about alcohol, drugs and impaired driving among students in grades 4 through 6
  • Help students understand the dangers of being a passenger in a vehicle driving by an impaired driver, and give them strategies to stay safe
  • Empower kids to trust their instincts and not cave in to peer pressure
  • Change students’ attitudes about alcohol and drugs before they start driving

During this school year SmartWheels is scheduled to visit a number of schools in Mississauga, Freelton, Brampton, Newmarket and Port Colborne, with new shows being booked all the time.

At some juncture most kids face the choice of whether or not to drink, and whether or not to drive after drinking, or ride with someone who is impaired. Peer pressure makes that choice a tough one, no matter how clear it might seem to adults, who have made it through the harrowing teenage years. MADD Canada and SmartWheels are there to see that all the teens in the country make it to adulthood, by persuading them to make the right choice at that vital time of life.

Legalization Of Marijuana Could Create Significant Change On The Roads

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legalization of marijuana The scariest thing about the potential legalization of marijuana is all of the unknowns associated with it. Will people walk around smoking weed in public places? Will everyone assume, despite public service announcements and new impaired driving laws, that it’s perfectly fine to drive after smoking marijuana?

It’s not just the general public who are considering what might happen; legal experts and lawmakers are weighing in, and they’re using these questions to push forward and find ways to cover all the bases before legalization of marijuana occurs.

Impaired driving crashes could increase

Legalization of marijuana has already happened in several states in the USA, so Canadian lawmakers already have concrete data on what may happen after. Since legalization in Washington State, they’ve found that the percentage of drivers who die in impaired driving crashes with marijuana in their system has doubled. Colorado, another state who’s legalized cannabis, found that crashes with a driver under the influence of cannabis increased by 44%.

Legalization of marijuana could increase teen crashes

According to a legal expert for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), surveys on impaired driving crashes involving people aged 16 to 24 found that many of these drivers were under the influence of marijuana. Teen impaired driving crashes are already a huge problem in Canada, and legal experts expect the number of crashes to rise after anyone over the age of 18 is able to legally purchase marijuana.

The bottom line is that it’s illegal to drive under the influence of any substance in Canada. Whether that be drugs or alcohol, you will be penalized with fines, fees, and the ignition interlock program if you choose to drive after drinking or using cannabis.

These impaired driving laws have been put into place for your safety and the safety of everyone on the roads with you. When legalization does happen, everyone should keep in mind that it’s all the same: driving high or driving drunk, you’ll be charged with impaired driving for both.

Is This The Year The Number Of Saskatchewan Drunk Drivers Finally Drop?

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Saskatchewan drunk driving Could 2018 finally be the year Saskatchewan drunk drivers give up the top spot for crashes and arrests in Canada? That’s what some residents are hoping after the province saw several tragic crashes and an increasing amount of Saskatchewan drunk drivers arrested for alcohol and drug violations.

Tragic crashes like the one that claimed the life of the Van de Vorst family in 2016 and high-profile arrests like that of former deputy premier Don McMorris are cited in a recent news article detailing why Saskatchewan drunk drivers keep that top spot. Although Statistics Canada hasn’t released data for 2017, data shows that in 2016 there were 57 people were killed and 464 were injured in 1,000 crashes that happened in Saskatchewan.

Thankfully, Saskatchewan has already taken steps to stop their drunk drivers, and legislation has passed that the province hopes will turn the tide in 2018.

Ignition interlock programs

Saskatchewan’s ignition interlock program changed in 2017, and that change means more time with the device for all offenders. While a first time offender only needed to use the device for one year when they were charged with an offense over .08, now that same person will need to use the device for two years if they were arrested with a BAC over .159.

SGI is suing responsible bars

2017 was the first year that SGI sued bars they felt had a hand in a drunk driving collision. In response to the deaths of the Van de Vorst family, SGI is suing two bars who served alcohol to the offender who drove drunk and caused the crash. It’s a sobering wake up call for any club who may be tempted to over-serve.

Zero tolerance for any drugged drivers

Just this past November the province of Saskatchewan announced a zero-tolerance law for any drug-impaired drivers. They also added 200 police officers who are trained to source out drugged drivers.

Let’s hope that all of these changes make a difference in the province, and Saskatchewan drunk drivers finally get the message: there’s no reward for having the top spot on list of worst impaired drivers in Canada.

Police Were On Top Of Canadian Drunk Drivers This Holiday

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Canadian drunk drivers The busiest time of the year for police in Canada is the holiday season. From Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, the amount of Canadian drunk drivers on the roads hits a high that only slows down after the holidays are over. In every province the local police will create their own campaigns to stop these drivers, and at the end of January statistics are shared to show whether or not there’s an increase or decrease.

Ontario drunk drivers

Ontario Provincial Police charged 587 drunk drivers during its Festive Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere campaign. It ran from November 24th to January 2nd. There were also 366 drivers who were charged after they were stopped with a warn range blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .05 to .08.

This is an improvement over 2016 for the OPP. During that holiday season they charged 623 drunk drivers and had 407 warn range violations. This year was also significant in that Ontario had Drug Recognition Evaluators on hand and they used their expertise to source out drugged drivers. Of the 587, 29 were charged with drugged driving.

British Columbia drunk drivers

Every year British Columbia launches a CounterAttack. This is the 40th year of CounterAttack in the province, and the results of the checkpoint have been encouraging for BC lawmakers. Delta, one section of Vancouver, checked 12,000 cars at various roadblocks in the month of December. Out of those 12,000 they only charged eight people with impaired driving offenses.

Alberta drunk drivers

Edmonton, Alberta hosted checkstops during the busy holiday season. After they checked 3,500 vehicles they managed to arrest 42 drunk drivers. There were also 72 drunk drivers who lost their driver’s license due to warn range BAC.

The holidays aren’t always an indication of what can happen in the new year, but these checkpoints show that police are out and on the move looking for Canadian drunk drivers. With the proposed legislation for legalization of marijuana just around the corner, you can be sure they aren’t going to let up in their search for impaired drivers anytime soon.

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