WATCH ABOVE: RCMP officers in the Maritimes are telling their own personal stories to try to keep impaired drivers off the road. The campaign is called “Five More Reasons Not to Drink and Drive.” Global’s Brion Robinson reports.
MONCTON – RCMP officers throughout the Maritimes are sharing their personal stories about impaired driving deaths they’ve encountered to encourage people not to drink and drive.
Sgt. Andre Pepin from the Codiac Detachment in Moncton remembered one incident a little over 20 years ago when he had to inform a mother her 19-year-old son had died in a collision.
“That was his birthday the previous day, so during the night he had went out and celebrated with some friends and was going back home,” Pepin said, noting the young man’s mother knew something was wrong before he knocked on the door.
“When she saw me coming at four o’clock in the morning in the driveway she knew something had happened to her son.”
The campaign is called “Five more reasons not to drink and drive.”
The RCMP is hoping these stories along with a social media campaign, will encourage drivers not to get behind the wheel if they’ve been drinking.
Impaired driving continues to be a serious issue in New Brunswick.
In the first six months of this year, the RCMP say 26 people were killed in collisions on roadways they patrol in the province, and they suspect impaired driving caused seven of those fatalities.
Isabelle Theriault-Arseneault of the local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving says first responders have an important messages to send. “They are among the first ones there on scene when there’s an accident so they’re perfectly placed to share these stories,” she said. “They witness all of this first hand each day.”
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