The Saskatoon chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) launched its “smashed car” campaign on Thursday to show one of the potential consequences of driving drunk or high.
To illustrate the point, the damaged vehicle was placed in view of motorists at the southwest corner of Warman and Wanuskewin roads.
“This campaign seeks to bring awareness once more to the havoc and wreckage caused by people who choose to drive impaired,” chapter vice-president Lou Van de Vorst said.
“In Saskatoon, we will be placing this car in four locations beginning at this site. We will leave the car here for two weeks and then move it to a new location every two weeks in order that we have good exposure throughout the city.
“This campaign is not only being run in Saskatoon but it’s also run in various times throughout this year in Regina, Prince Albert and Meadow Lake by the local chapters of MADD.”
Following a collision involving a drunk driver just north of Saskatoon on Jan. 3, 2016, the Van de Vorsts lost Jordan, his wife Chanda and the couple’s children: two-year-old McGuire and five-year-old Kamryn.
“It doesn’t really hit you hard until it hits you personally. And I think that’s the thing. It almost has to hit people personally. And I know there’s a lot of people here in Saskatchewan that it has hit personally,” Lou said.
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“There’s far too many people that are being injured or killed by impaired driving, by an impaired driver, and far too much. When my son was killed, Saskatchewan had the worst record for impaired driving deaths in Canada.
“The MADD chapter decided to message the car with the phrase, ‘impaired driving kills.’ This message speaks for itself. It states what is so obvious here in Saskatchewan, far too many people in this province have fallen victim to the selfish and thoughtless actions of impaired drivers.”
Linda Van de Vorst said it still hurts all the time and don’t want other families to go through the same experience on a daily basis.
“My first impression right here is I would hope that it has an impact, the wording ‘impaired driving kills’ is moving. It’s not ‘don’t drive impaired,’ it’s ‘impaired driving kills.’ It’s a reality check that there’s a big consequence of loss of life with this car showing here, and I would hope that people would take a second look to really take heed,” she said.
“I would hope that when people look at that vehicle, it jogs their mind … ‘Do I really want to take the chance and go for a ride after I’ve taken a few drinks? There is always the possibility that I may not get home or someone else that I injure or kill will not go home. It’s not worth it.’”
The campaign runs from the beginning of September through to the last week in October.
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