WATCH: Police have kicked off their summer counter-attack program, going after summer’s drinking drivers. Linda Aylesworth reports.
If you’re out driving late at night, you may start seeing more roadside checks.
ICBC’s annual CounterAttack road check campaign began in earnest this weekend, as the insurance company and police crews team up to ensure people aren’t drinking and driving.
“We’re trying to encourage drivers that, should they be drinking, to plan ahead for a save ride home. Use a designated driver, phone a friend or call a taxi,” says Aileen Shibata of ICBC.
The program began in 1976, and in the decades since, the number of deaths due to drinking and driving in B.C. have declined from about 300 each year to 86. Half of those happen during the summer, and while 13 per cent drivers are between 16 and 25, they make up 31 per cent of impaired driving incidents.
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“Once the weather gets great like it is today, people are celebrating more. They’re either out barbecuing or boating or golfing. They may be drinking, and so our message is really timely. They can drink, but we certainly don’t want them drinking and driving,” says Shibata.