Could you live with yourself if you hurt or killed someone?
That's the question a new Saskatchewan Government Insurance campaign is asking.
The "Could you live with yourself?" campaign is expected to run on TV, radio, and online throughout February.
It's flagship commercial features a fictitious guilt-ridden impaired driver who was involved in a collision that left two children dead.
At end of the spot, Lou and Linda Van de Vorst – who lost their son and his family in a 2016 collision – tell viewers, "you could save a life, or an entire family like ours."
At a media event Thursday, the pair said many people don't consider the effects impaired driving has on their friends, family and co-workers.
"They have no idea how life changes in a split-second," Linda said. Impaired drivers' family members also have to live with the knowledge that a loved one did something "totally irresponsible" to take someone's life or cause a severe injury, she said.
The Van de Vorsts hope the campaign leads to viewers thinking about their loved ones before driving impaired.
And Don Morgan, the minister responsible for SGI, says he hopes it encourages bystanders to intervene if they see someone drinking and driving.
SGI's campaign comes on the heels of a "steady downward slide" in impaired driving fatalities, Morgan says.
While 2020 numbers aren't yet available, SGI reports there were 21 deaths related to impaired driving in 2019, halving the number of fatalities from 2018.
Morgan attributes the decline to the work of advocates like the Van de Vorsts, who he says put "a very human and a real face on a horrible and an unnecessary tragedy."
He predicts fewer people on the road as the result of COVID-19 may contribute to a further decline in impaired driving deaths.
