Impaired driving accidents keep taking thousands of lives across the world every year.
Even though the number of local charges for driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs is slowly going down, unfortunately, the problem remains real.
The Mercury talked to Estevan Police Chief Paul Ladouceur about the situation with impaired driving in Estevan, as well as about the measures planned by the Estevan Police Service for the month of December, which is usually a "critical time for policing when it comes to impaired driving and driving under influence."
"As we go into the holiday season and then into the new year, there is a lot more social activity that goes on," Ladouceur said.
While the pandemic has definitely reshaped a lot of traditional activities, the EPS still was dealing with dozens of impaired drivers throughout this year. They expect that this December will also be different from anything we've seen before, but that doesn't mean they won't be out there ensuring the community is safe.
"This year with the amount of restrictions in place we may not see a typical year when it comes to what we usually envision when it comes to impaired driving," said Ladouceur.
"We are not sure how this year will play out. I can say that we will still be able to be out there with MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and our members doing high-visibility check stops sporadically as we approach the holiday season and into the new year."
Ladouceur said that collaboration with MADD has been "fantastic" in a sense of raising awareness and promoting safe driving practices. They receive some funding for high-visibility check stops through SGI, and MADD provides volunteers working on the street alongside EPS officers during these activities.
"It's a great collaboration when it comes to reducing impaired driving within our community. Those will continue."
The EPS will also put in extra effort communicating through the media and social media, raising awareness about impaired driving, reminding people of possible consequences of driving under the influence and promoting the benefits of safe choices.
MADD will also keep going with their red ribbon campaign, in which they hand out ribbons to be placed on vehicles.
"When we see red ribbons on cars around this time of the year, it's that reminder of 'do I have a safe way home before I even head out tonight, do I have a plan?'"
Ladouceur pointed out that this is going to be a unique year for everybody, as the restrictions will probably keep a lot of people celebrating at home. But he also noted that there are always people who feel that they can have a few drinks and then go drive to visit somebody, which is not acceptable and the EPS will be out there ensuring that people are following the laws.
Ladouceur also reminded the public that it's not just alcohol that doesn't comply with driving, but any kinds of drugs, including legalized cannabis.
"We will have our drug recognition experts (DRE) available and ready to do those assessments. And as well a good majority of our members are trained SFSTs, conducting standardized field sobriety tests to determine if somebody might be impaired by alcohol or drugs," the police chief said.
When it comes to cracking down on impaired driving, the EPS also often works with local establishments.
The other thing they'll be doing this year is positive ticketing.
"Oftentimes when someone went to an establishment and left their vehicle there for the night in the past, the next day when they came to get their vehicle, they found a Tim Hortons card under the windshield wiper or other things like that. And we are looking at doing things like that again this year with some of our local businesses, trying to take that positive approach to making right decisions as well," Ladouceur said.
The EPS has been focusing on impaired driving for several years, and they are seeing the results of their efforts, which included the co-operation with local establishments, creation of MADD chapter, training more DRE and SFSTs, proving high-vis check stops and much more.
"We plan on continuing down that path."
Ladouceur added that Estevan is getting better when it comes to impaired driving. He also pointed out that when they started battling impaired driving in the area, the number of charges went up as there were more resources put into it and more people were getting caught as opposed to getting away with drinking and driving. And now they are finally seeing these numbers going down.
"Now we are seeing that tip starting to go the other way … and starting to drop. And that's where we want to be at, that's the goal moving forward into 2021," Ladouceur said.
"It's been a very good year; we are seeing the numbers going down as far as with alcohol. There is still some work to be done on the drug side of it."
The EPS also invests a lot of resources into educating the public, starting from the early years. While a lot of their programs were put on pause due to restrictions this year, Ladouceur doesn't foresee it reversing.
"Usually when we are hitting schools, educating sports teams and having our youth nights and having those critical conversations with our young people about safe habits and being responsible, we hit so many different grades and so many different groups, and so many different sporting clubs, that one year isn't going to be a death sentence to education when it comes to teaching kids good and responsible habits," Ladouceur concluded, adding that if the restrictions will continue for a long time, they will proceed with virtual education and engagement.
