The effort to keep Alberta’s highways and roadways free from alcohol and drug impaired motorists will be continuing in 2020 thanks to the tireless efforts of thousands of students and their many stakeholder partners.
Whether the work will pay off with fewer impaired driving incidents, including fewer fatal crashes, remains to be seen.
What is known is that the message that driving sober is always best continues to ring out in every Alberta community.
Newly announced funding for Students Against Drinking & Driving (SADD) Alberta and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada is a great New Year’s gift to the people of Alberta.
The province announced the $105,000 funding through the Alberta Traffic Safety Fund. The money will go to support programming and public awareness in communities both large and small.
“MADD and SADD do good work to educate students and the public on the dangers of impaired driving and I’m pleased to continue to support their efforts to improve safety on Alberta’s roads,” said Minister of Transportation Ric McIver.
SADD will be receiving $80,000 of the new funding.
“Students of all ages can send an important message and have a big impact on their local communities,” said SADD provincial community liaison Arthur Lee.
“This partnership will allow us the opportunity to reach students through speaker tours and develop new resources.”
MADD will receive $25,000 to cover costs of bringing the school assembly program to schools.
“This generous support has enabled MADD Canada to deliver more than 200 presentations to middle and high schools across Alberta,” said MADD Canada CEO Dawn Regan.
An average of 6,000 Alberta drivers have been convicted of impaired driving every year since 2015. By any stretch, that is a black mark on this province.
As always it is the victims of impaired driving who are leading the effort to make Alberta’s roadways safe. Hopefully drivers of all ages will take the sober driving message to heart in 2020, for everyone’s sake.
Dan Singleton is an editor with the Mountain View Albertan.
