In the News

Impaired driving reports soar under MADD campaign
Calgary Herald
By Richard Cuthbertson
March 31, 2010

A campaign launched by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, along with police, city and health officials, has led to a higher number of calls being made to 911 to report impaired drivers in Calgary.
During the first five months of the campaign, which started in October, there has also been a 17 per cent increase in impaired driving charges.

Calgary police Chief Rick Hanson lauded the program on Tuesday, saying he was gratified with the results.

"Our message is if you see somebody who shouldn't be getting behind the wheel of a car, phone us, let us know," he said.

"And if you see somebody who's driving down the road and they're clearly driving like they're impaired, then phone us and let us know.

"The only way we're going to get these people off the road is to go after them aggressively like this and get the message out there."

The program's slogan is Report Impaired Drivers -- Call 911.

Between October and February, there were 2,365 calls to 911 about suspected impaired drivers, compared with 1,484 calls made the year before. That represents a 60 per cent increase.

Last year, there were 12 fatal collisions involving impaired drivers, representing more than half of all deadly crashes in Calgary.

Louise Knox, the western chapter services manager for MADD, said the initiative to get the public to report impaired drivers has been the work of people with the MADD chapter in Calgary, the Calgary police, the city and Alberta Health Services.

"As someone who has lost a loved one to an impaired driver, I can only imagine how many lives have been saved as a result of this and how many fewer knocks at the door the police have had to do to perform a death notification," she said.

Hanson said impaired driving is still an issue in society, but it can be fought by teaming with members of the community.

"The reality is when charges of impaired driving go up, it means that the police and the community are working on the issue," he said.

"It's not to be taken as a negative thing. It means that we're getting more drunks off the road."