Photos on TTC buses pay tribute to impaired driving victims ahead of holidays

The Toronto chapter of MADD Canada has launched an awareness campaign that pays tribute to impaired driving victims ahead of the holidays.

Photos of victims are being placed on the back of TTC buses as a stark reminder to never drive impaired.

“All of the people gathering for this event — and so many more across this city and across the country – are missing someone this holiday season because someone else made a decision to drive impaired,” Carolyn Swinson of MADD Toronto said in a statement.

They were hard images for family members to take in — pictures of men women and children whose lives were cut short because of someone’s decision to drink and drive.

The move is part of MADD Canada’s Project Red Ribbon holiday campaign which is aimed at encouraging motorists to always drive sober.

Throughout the campaign, volunteers across Canada will distribute thousands of red ribbons and red ribbon car decals for drivers to display as a symbol of their commitment to always drive sober.

“We’re here because we want to prevent more tragedies from happening,” Swinson said.

“No one should ever lose their life or suffer the loss of a loved one due to this preventable crime.”

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Meanwhile, the OPP’s Festive RIDE campaign is underway. The annual enforcement and education initiative looks to eliminate impaired driving on Ontario roadways.

“It’s scary, quite frankly, that people are still engaging in drinking and driving will all of the options we have these days, with Uber and Taxis and calling a friend,” explains OPP Const. Kevin Westhead.

Police are pulling out all the stops with new drug screening equipment that can detect both marijuana and cocaine.

“We have all these issues on our highways that we continue to combat and we’ll do the best we can certainly during this holiday season,” added Westhead.

2:05 Festive RIDE, Red Ribbon campaigns kick off in Peterborough area

If that doesn’t drive the message home, here are some rather sobering statistics. On average every day, four Canadians are killed and 175 injured in impairment-related crashes, according to MADD Canada.

“My life would have went in a totally different direction had this not happened and so we’ve both had to really pick up the pieces and move forward as best we can,” said Brian Wijeratne, whose father and sister were killed when a drunk driver collided with the family’s minivan on Highway 427 in August 2012. His mother was badly injured and survived the crash.