Despite young lives being lost, increased penalties that are now amongst the toughest in the world and massive public awareness, the message about the perils of drinking and driving appear to be falling on deaf ears in and around Bonnyville.
Speaking before MD of Bonnyville council last week, Sgt. Luis Gandolfi, commander of the Bonnyville RCMP detachment, said the number of impaired driving charges being laid in this community continues to astound him and fellow police officers.
Local RCMP officers laid 23 impaired driving charges over the past two months and suspended the licenses of another 18, Gandolfi told council.
Amazingly, another two impaired driving charges were laid by local police later that evening.
“It's become one of those every other day kind of things in this community … it continues to be a serious issue,” said Gandolfi.
These figures come one year after Bonnyville RCMP laid more than 40 impaired driving charges throughout the month of October in 2010.
At the Bonnyville courthouse last Tuesday, no less than 10 people, all but one a young male under age 30, pleaded guilty to impaired driving charges.
Bonnyville is quickly being recognized as one of the worst jurisdictions in Alberta for drunk driving.
As Gandolfi noted, a large majority of people being caught are transient workers who aren't from Bonnyville, but come to work here. But the fact remains our streets are often not safe because so many people using our streets and highways have been drinking. Following his presentation to council, Gandolfi told the Nouvelle catching impaired drivers and taking them off the street will continue to be a major focus for RCMP officers over the busy Christmas holiday season and for months to come.
“It has been and will remain one of the top priorities of this detachment,” he said. “We will do what we have to do to keep impaired drivers off the street and keep our roadways safe.”
Despite the fact every single person out there who obtains a driver's license knows the consequences of being caught and the tens of thousands of dollars a single impaired driving conviction will cost them, the numbers don't lie and the message is not being heard by far too many people.
Driving while impaired equates to Russian Roulette, plain and simple. Most people who have had too much to drink and insist on getting behind the wheel of a motor vehicle simply believe they won't be caught.
The penalties in 2011 for being caught are staggering. Not only do you lose your license for an extended period of time, the cost of insurance will skyrocket for years, technology to install breath machines is exorbitant and you might not get insured at all.
The fact remains more than 1,500 Canadians lose their lives each year at the hand of a drunk driver. The carnage has to stop.
Maybe if people who insist on drinking and driving thought a little more about their loved ones and the fact they could lose someone they love in the blink of an eye because of a stupid decision by someone else to step behind the wheel while intoxicated, they would use sober second thought and never drink and drive themselves.
There are no more excuses for drinking and driving. We all know it's wrong. We all know innocent lives can be lost or be forever scarred for no good reason.
Drinking alcohol is legal in this country and that's never going to change. But getting behind the wheel while intoxicated is a fool's game and a deadly one.
Don't ever think you won't be caught because the odds are not in your favour. The police are out in force and they will catch you eventually if you insist on drinking and driving. Call a cab, call a friend or walk home if you have to, but don't become another sad statistic.
