The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have teamed up with the London, Ont., chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) to launch the annual Festive RIDE campaign, which aims to prevent impaired driving over the holiday season.
The two groups held the launch at a news conference on Thursday inside the OPP’s West Region headquarters in south London.
Officers say they’ve seen a rise in impaired driving-related deaths this year, with 27 reported in West Region OPP’s jurisdiction so far in 2022. That’s up from 15 deaths in all of last year.
This year so far has also seen a six per cent rise in the number of impaired driving charges laid in West Region — 1,978 in 2022 compared with 1,869 in 2021.
The Festive RIDE campaign runs until Jan. 2, 2023 and acting Insp. Ross Stuart says drivers can expect to see OPP officers conducting RIDE programs “24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
“This holiday season, don’t get drunk or take drugs and get behind the wheel of a vehicle,” Stuart added.
Stuart says other members of the public have a role to play too, adding that you should call 911 if you suspect someone is driving while impaired.
“It is so critically important that the public makes those phone calls and gives us the opportunity to intercept that vehicle and keep something tragic from happening,” Stuart said.
Sara Neusteter is among the countless family members who have had their lives turned upside down as a result of impaired driving.
In 2014, Neusteter and her mother were driving home from Tillsonburg when they were hit head-on by an impaired driver.
“Our offender was three times over the legal limit at only 7:30 p.m. The back of his vehicle was littered with broken beer bottles, empty beer boxes and beer cans,” Neusteter said.
“My mom, she was 54 years old, she was killed upon impact.”
Neusteter was severely injured and left with scarring on her face and ribcage, a broken jaw, a broken ankle, a broken wrist, a broken collarbone, a lacerated lung, a collapsed lung and a traumatic brain injury.
She’s undergone 15 surgeries, countless laser treatments and ongoing mental therapy in the time since.
“Because of the reckless actions of an impaired driver, my mom missed the opportunity to see her youngest child attend college, get married and have babies of my own,” Neusteter said.
The preventable death motivated Neusteter to join MADD London, where she now serves as president in hopes of preventing similar tragedies in the future.
“If you have consumed any alcohol or drugs, please remember my story or the countless stories that are out there and do not get behind the wheel impaired,” Neusteter said.
Neusteter adds that folks can also raise awareness about the dangers of impaired driving by taking part in the Project Red Ribbon campaign, which asks drivers to hang a red ribbon on their rearview mirror to show they are committed to driving sober.