Give The Gift Of Safety This Holiday Season – Drive Sober, Arrange A Sober Ride Home
By Contributor
MADD Canada is urging all Canadians to help protect one another from impaired driving this holiday season by planning ahead for sober rides.
“With Christmas celebrations in full swing, and New Year’s just a few days away, we are asking everyone to make sober transportation part of their plans,” said MADD Canada National President Jaymie-Lyne Hancock.
“If you are going to be consuming alcohol, cannabis or other drugs, please leave the driving to someone sober. No one’s holiday should end in tragedy because someone got behind the wheel impaired.”
Ms. Hancock and her family face another Christmas without her brother D.J., who was killed by an impaired driver in 2014.
“We celebrate the season and enjoy our time together, but we feel D.J.’s absence so deeply and miss him so much,” she said. “Someone made a choice to drive impaired, and the result is that my brother will never celebrate the holidays with his family ever again.”
“Planning ahead takes just a few minutes, and it can make the difference between life and death on the road,” Ms. Hancock said.
While the gatherings may still be smaller than usual due to the pandemic, the risk for impaired driving remains. Everyone can do their part to keep roads safe by:
- Never driving impaired;
- Never riding with a driver who is impaired;
- Calling 911 to report suspected impaired drivers.
However you are celebrating this season, make a sober ride home your priority. Call an Uber or a cab, arrange a designated driver, take public transit or stay the night. Canadians wanting to plan their sober and reliable drive home during the holidays, and all year round, can do it with just the push of a button – check out Uber, the Official Designated Ride of MADD Canada. Visit https://www.uber.com/ca/en/ for more information.
MADD Canada is currently in the midst of its Project Red Ribbon campaign to promote safe and sober driving during the holidays. Red ribbons and car decals are available through the MADD Canada website at madd.ca and through local Chapters and Community Leaders. Anyone who wishes to support Project Red Ribbon with a donation can do so online through the website, by calling 1-800-665-6233 or by texting “RIBBON” to 45678 (a one-time $10 donation is added to the donor’s cell phone bill and payable to his or her service provider).
Photo Caption: MADD community leader Pat Henman received support from Darren Fuss and Mackenzie Hope of Hall Printing for the Red Ribbon Project. Pat Henman would also like to thank Aaron Pang of Buddy’s Place; Paul Cowan of Cowan Office Supplies as well as a special thanks to Chahko Mika Mall in Nelson,— Submitted
