Example of coupons available. (Submitted photo/Prince Albert & Area Community Alcohol Strategy Steering Committee)

By Ian Gustafson

Impaired Driving

P.A. organizations partner up to provide residents a safe ride home this summer

Jun 24, 2021 | 4:01 PM

Local organizations have teamed up to help provide Prince Albert residents a safe ride home after a night of drinking.

Prince Albert and Area Community Alcohol Strategy Steering Committee (CASSC) has teamed up with Saskatchewan Government Insurance, Northern Lights Community Development Corporation, MADD Prince Albert, Grey Cab, and Checker and Family Taxi to provide $10 cab coupons to help reduce impaired driving this summer.

CASSC Co-ordinator Karen Anthony-Burns told paNOW because restrictions are being lifted, they anticipate everyone will be really excited to get out with their friends.

“We’re thinking that this will just kind of give them an incentive to think about how they’re planning to get home … After they’ve had a few drinks, it might not be the best time to be thinking about whether they’re in any shape to be driving home,” she said.

The Prince Albert Police Service will be handing out 200 cab coupons to local establishments such as bars, restaurants, and liquor stores and the remaining 200 will be given to the taxi companies.

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She explained these businesses will also be given window clings to display a QR code to scan with your phone that shows you the terms of use for the coupons. Those who don’t have a physical coupon can ask the cab drivers for them.

The coupons can be used between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. and will expire on Aug. 31. The program has been around since 2017 and said the cab companies involved paid for the start-up costs and the CASSC covered the rest. In previous years, Anthony-Burns said the public has used them but would like to see the use increase.

“We figured everyone who’s using it is someone who isn’t driving their vehicle home,” she said. “We’re certainly hoping that through the summer that people will take advantage of it even more.”

They’re hoping to change people’s mindset to make them consider alternative ways home after a night of drinking and to reinforce making good decisions.

In a recent interview Chief of the Prince Albert Police Service Jon Bergen said impaired driving is a criminal offence that will follow someone even in the best of outcomes, but added the outcome is out of the driver’s control.

“It’s something that can’t be undone,” he said. “An impaired driver is not just putting themselves at risk but everybody else that uses the roadways as well, and we’ve seen the aftermath of that way too many times.”

He explained impaired driving affects us all and said they’ve seen great work from their partners in reducing impaired drivers.

“We really urge everybody to make the right decision and have a plan on how they’re going to safely arrive home,” Bergen added.

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Ian.Gustafson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @IanGustafson12