Operation Red Nose credits impaired driving campaigns for lower demand
Posted December 24, 2017 11:55 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – It’s been one of the leading causes of deadly crashes on local roads but it looks like decades of repeated messaging about drunk driving is having a positive effect.
That’s according to some of the people behind a free holiday driving service, who say fewer folks are using them.
“From our standpoint the people that generally use Operation Red Nose have been planning ahead better, they’ve been making sure that somebody in their party is not drinking, they’ve got an alternate plan in place,” says Chris Wilson with Operation Red Nose, who adds numbers are generally a bit lower this year around the area.
He thinks all those years of impaired driving campaigns are now sinking in.
“Yeah I think, you know I think all the work that ICBC has done, the province has done, in really encouraging people to make the right choice has made a big difference.”
The service will have a volunteer drive you and your car home if you’ve had too much to drink. It’s all run by non-profit organizations in the cities the service is offered in.
According to ICBC, as many as 65 people die in drunk driving crashes every year. If you’re caught driving while impaired, penalties can include a driving suspension, hefty fines or jail time.
By the way, Operation Red Nose still needs volunteers for New Year’s Eve. You can find more information here.
Meantime, British Columbians who had hoped ride-hailing services would be available in the province by the end of this year are out of luck. The BC NDP had back-tracked on their promise to have ride-hailing services in BC by the end of 2017 this past fall. The transportation minister says nothing will be done until an expert review is completed in early 2018.
