Taxi Cool is the name and safety is the game.
Three fathers who saw firsthand the devastating combination of drinking and driving have pulled off a pre-Christmas miracle.
A mere two months from inception to completion, the Taxi Cool coupon program was rolled out yesterday in a cavernous Transport Quebec garage.
Starting Dec. 16, coupons in denominations of $5 and $10 will be available from taxi offices to be used for trips home, hopefully discouraging anyone who has had a few drinks from driving, or getting into a car with someone else who has been imbibing.
It’s an extraordinary cooperation between competing taxi companies because unlike corporate taxi chits, these coupons can be used in any cab no matter the affiliation.
“The program is not dedicated to any one fleet and we’re glad to get the competition to join forces,” Nicola Di Iorio said.
Di Iorio, Michel Méthot and François Rozon are the fathers of three girls who barely survived a high-speed crash into a tree in Town of Mount Royal on July 24. The young male driver had been racing with another car and is now facing charges of impaired driving, street racing and negligence causing injury.
Unwilling to sit back and do nothing, the three dads did some brainstorming and the idea of Taxi Cool was born.
Quebec Minister of Transport Sam Hamad said he put his full weight behind the program when the fathers pitched him the idea two months ago.
“I thought about my own kids, it was a very emotional meeting, and these guys had good ideas,” Hamad said.
The coupons have no expiration date, and Hamad said he hopes parents give them to their kids when they go out for the evening, not just during this holiday season. Or, he said, use them themselves.
Starting this Thursday, coupons can be purchased from the offices of 48 taxi companies. Eventually, Méthot said, they’d like to make a deal with gas stations, dépanneurs or a drugstore chain to sell the coupons.
At the same news conference, Hamad unveiled this winter’s road safety campaign aimed at cutting down on road accidents and deaths.
The slogan, L’hiver peut vous surprendre (Winter Can Surprise You), is particularly apt after the snowstorm we had last week that caught almost everyone unaware. On average, 40 per cent of all road accidents take place in the winter months, the minister said.
The campaign will include advertisements on radio stations, the Internet and billboards.
Alain Quintal, who teaches plow drivers how to operate the myriad toggles and switches in the cab that adjust the plow and put down abrasives, said that passing a snow plow is dangerous.
“The driver has to concentrate on the road ahead, so his visibility on the side is not good. Don’t pass.”
For a list of the taxi companies and phone numbers go to www.cooltaxiquebec.com
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