Valley police, NB Liquor team up in war against drunk driving
By Jeff Ducharme
Telegraph-Journal
June 6, 2008

ROTHESAY - The Rothesay Regional Police Force has enlisted NB Liquor in its war against drunk driving in the Kennebecasis Valley.

After seeing an increase in the number of drunk driving offences, Sgt. Evan Scott contacted NB Liquor and asked them to join him in a campaign to get drivers to call 911 if they suspect someone is driving drunk. The Crown corporation has designed posters that have been placed in all its stores.

In 2005, the Rothesay force laid 50 drunk driving charges. By the time 2007 came to an end, that number had almost doubled to 96 charges. The amount of complaints, mostly drivers using their cell phones to alert police, increased during the same period by a staggering 327 per cent. The trend of increasing charges and complaints has continued, but the increases have begun to level off.

"We're continuously out there trying to educate people about the message on one hand, and on the other hand educating people to the fact that impaired driving is an emergency," said Scott. "Call 911 if you suspect somebody is impaired because we all share a responsibility on the road to ensure that it's safe for everybody."

Rothesay and many other forces in the area have begun erecting signs along roadways urging drivers to call 911. That program is in conjunction with Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Whether it's increased public awareness assisted by technology - the ease of picking up a cell phone and dialing 911 - or the fact there are more drunk drivers on the road, Scott said it doesn't really matter.

"We want to get them off the road. We'll do whatever it takes to do that," said Scott. "We're making more of a concentrated effort to detect and apprehend these drivers. So yes, our numbers are going to go up."

Police, he said, are also setting up checkpoints on roads less travelled that, in the past, would have been a route chosen by drunk drivers in a bid to elude police.

"We're hitting those areas too. Just because they haven't seen a roadblock there before or a road-check, doesn't mean there's not going to be one there."

While Scott welcomes the public's help, he doesn't want drivers putting themselves at peril by trying to take the law into their own hands. Following a drunk driver too closely or even trying to apprehend them could turn a good deed into a tragic event.

"Call us, report it, let it go."

Impaired driving, said Scott, is still the leading cause of criminal death in the country.

"Too many people are getting killed.

"It's a choice," said Scott of those who drive drunk. "It's a preventable choice."

Nora Lacey, a spokeswoman with NB Liquor, said the agency wants New Brunswickers to do the right thing.

"We're hoping it's going to generate calls," Lacey said. "We really see the need for us to take a leadership role and promote responsible consumption."

Also see...

MADD Canada's Campaign 911