By Taylor MacPherson

MADD urges public to report impaired drivers

Sep 26, 2017 | 5:00 PM

After a grisly weekend left eight people dead on Saskatchewan highways, the Prince Albert Mothers against Drunk Driving (MADD) chapter is encouraging individuals to act responsibly even if they’re not getting behind the wheel themselves.

Prince Albert MADD President Trina Cockle said the RCMP are well aware of the issues and are working hard to keep Saskatchewan roadways safe, but with police resources spread thin local communities and individuals have to be proactive to help end the needless deaths. Working to stop impaired driving is up to friends and relatives as well as the police, she said.

“The RCMP have such a vast area to cover,” Cockle said. “If I’m at a party and I see my cousin have six or eight drinks, then it should be also up to me not to let that person get into a vehicle and drive.”

Cockle said families who have lost a loved one to impaired driving often want to know the same things – how many people could have prevented a tragedy by encouraging an inebriated friend to take a cab or simply reporting a driver they suspected to be impaired?

“They could have potentially saved a life,” Cockle said. “I always like to talk about it being a community problem.”

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Impaired driving is most common over weekends and especially during holidays, Cockle said. Impaired and fatal collisions are not exclusive to cities, she added, so it’s just as important to report a suspected impaired driver on a rural grid road as it is in a city centre.

“I don’t think it matters what type of road you’re on, whether it’s a back road, a highway or a city street,” she said. “The rate of crashes just goes up.”

The specific causes of the weekend accidents have not yet been released and police continue to investigate. Cockle said she prefers to see the causes of collisions published widely as soon as possible, as it lets MADD reach out to any new victims of impaired driving and helps hammer home the message to the public.

“I think that people need to know what the circumstances were,” Cockle said. “I think most of the community is wondering what happened.”

Taylor.macpherson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TMacPhersonNews