Police in B.C. are starting the annual CounterAttack holiday campaign this weekend with road checks set up across the province.
Police, along with ICBC, are urging drivers to be responsible and plan a safe ride home.
“When you drink and drive, you not only risk your life but the lives of others on the road. We want everyone to enjoy a safe holiday season this year,” says Lindsay Matthews, ICBC’s vice-president of customer experience & public affairs.
“If your festivities include alcohol, please be responsible, plan ahead and leave your car at home. Use a designated driver, call a taxi or rideshare, take transit or use Operation Red Nose.”
On average, 11 people are killed and 310 injured in 550 impaired driving-related crashes on Vancouver Island every year.
Across the province, impaired driving claims the lives of 64 people each year.
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“Driving impaired after drinking alcohol is dangerous and a crime. Unfortunately, there are still those willing to take a chance with their own lives, the lives of their passengers and the lives of other road users. If you have consumed alcohol – stay off our roads. If you instead choose to put yourself and others at risk, consider yourself warned: the police are out there with stepped-up enforcement,” says Mike Farnworth, the minister of public safety and solicitor general.
Over the holiday season, police will be looking for impaired drivers at CounterAttack road checks set up throughout B.C.
Police will also be rewarding designated drivers at many of these roadchecks with coffee vouchers donated by McDonald’s.
“The annual December impaired driving campaign is an important initiative bringing public awareness to the dangers of impaired driving. This collaboration between the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police members, the Province and ICBC emphasizes how effective partnerships are working to keep our highways and communities safe,” says Chief Constable Neil Dubord, chair of the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police Traffic Safety Committee.
ICBC and police conduct two impaired driving education and enhanced enforcement campaigns every year to help create safer roads in B.C.
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