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Hello, I volunteer with MADD Canada (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and wanted to get your attention for just a second to talk about the festive RIDE program which has just started. It's also the time of year when the famous "red ribbon" campaign at MADD begins.
As all of you are aware, drug and alcohol testing is a large part of everyday life in the transport industry and we use it to screen out those who would put the public and property at risk. Unfortunately, members of the general public to this day still get behind the wheel of a vehicle after having a drink, thinking they can handle themselves and we know what the outcome is.
I want to suggest to my peers and colleagues here that as role models of safety and compliance, we can help in this cause. You may know someone who was injured or killed by an impaired driver and, if so, you know all too well the impact that has on those who are left behind. I am saying that if you, as a private individual, or your company wants to help raise awareness in your community, do what I am doing with MADD. Even if you didn't lose someone to impaired driving, you can help educate and drive home the message to stop this senseless carnage.
In my case, someone I once knew from army cadets who went on to become an OPP officer stationed in Petrolia ON was killed by a drunk driver. She had only been off-duty for a half-hour after her shift when she was hit from behind by a driver who consumed 10 beers in 4 hours, with a passenger in the car no less, while she was jogging with her dog. Constable Kimberley Serrick was an OPP officer for just over a year when she was killed and at the young age of 22 on November 26, 1989. Ironically, her 19 year-old sister was also killed by a drunk driver in February of that same year. Justice was served but I am volunteering with MADD to make sure nobody forgets Kim. Her life ended tragically and surely, nobody among the living should endure that either.
When I went to MADD's office in Oakville, I was taken aback by something I didn't expect: the statistics have a human face. Their entire office have pictures up and down the hall and in a board room, on every wall. from the 50's to present-day, in chronological order, of those who were lost to drunk driving. Their office is open for the public to come visit if you are nearby (QEW/Winston Churchill.)
If there's any group of people on earth who understand the perils of dangerous driving besides police officers, it would be truck drivers if you ask me. I want to suggest that if you can help, please contact MADD Canada (www.madd.ca) and they will be very helpful.
Thanks for allowing me to share this with you.
As all of you are aware, drug and alcohol testing is a large part of everyday life in the transport industry and we use it to screen out those who would put the public and property at risk. Unfortunately, members of the general public to this day still get behind the wheel of a vehicle after having a drink, thinking they can handle themselves and we know what the outcome is.
I want to suggest to my peers and colleagues here that as role models of safety and compliance, we can help in this cause. You may know someone who was injured or killed by an impaired driver and, if so, you know all too well the impact that has on those who are left behind. I am saying that if you, as a private individual, or your company wants to help raise awareness in your community, do what I am doing with MADD. Even if you didn't lose someone to impaired driving, you can help educate and drive home the message to stop this senseless carnage.
In my case, someone I once knew from army cadets who went on to become an OPP officer stationed in Petrolia ON was killed by a drunk driver. She had only been off-duty for a half-hour after her shift when she was hit from behind by a driver who consumed 10 beers in 4 hours, with a passenger in the car no less, while she was jogging with her dog. Constable Kimberley Serrick was an OPP officer for just over a year when she was killed and at the young age of 22 on November 26, 1989. Ironically, her 19 year-old sister was also killed by a drunk driver in February of that same year. Justice was served but I am volunteering with MADD to make sure nobody forgets Kim. Her life ended tragically and surely, nobody among the living should endure that either.
When I went to MADD's office in Oakville, I was taken aback by something I didn't expect: the statistics have a human face. Their entire office have pictures up and down the hall and in a board room, on every wall. from the 50's to present-day, in chronological order, of those who were lost to drunk driving. Their office is open for the public to come visit if you are nearby (QEW/Winston Churchill.)
If there's any group of people on earth who understand the perils of dangerous driving besides police officers, it would be truck drivers if you ask me. I want to suggest that if you can help, please contact MADD Canada (www.madd.ca) and they will be very helpful.
Thanks for allowing me to share this with you.