It seems to be the time of year that the campaigns against impaired driving and seen heavily on TV, in the paper and any other media outlets.
They send a strong message against drinking and driving and drug-impaired driving.
In the next weeks, police will have their check stops up and will be more visible on the roads the closer Christmas gets.
It seems the festive season brings out the booze and the people who seem to think they are above the law when it comes to drinking and driving.
Saskatchewan has one of the highest rates of impaired driving across Canada. Four out of every 10 fatal collisions includes drinking and driving.
When will people learn that this is not the way to go? When will people learn that it is usually someone else’s loved one that is killed through the stupidity of drinking and then taking a 6,000-pound piece of metal on the highway?
There are so many options out there for this not to happen, yet every year a family will mourn the death of someone they loved because of impaired driving.
I often see on TV the commercials on how someone died – a brother, sister, parent or a friend – through Mothers Against Drunk Driving, yet a few commercials later, there is the advertisement for a bottle of Crown Royal or Bailey's.
Advertising cigarettes is no longer allowed on TV because it kills people, yet liquor kills and nothing is done about the push to buy and sell booze.
It is also baffling to me when I see the raffle baskets. I see daycares or skating clubs selling tickets on prizes that contain nothing but liquor.
Are these clubs not for minors? I understand that it is parents that buy the tickets, but surely we can produce something better than liquor, something that is better for the whole family to win.
I am not trying to be a party crasher, but I know first-hand what alcohol does to a family, and I would hate to see other families go through the same thing when it is so preventable.
There are places that offer safe rides home. Is it not worth the money to get home safely, or to save a life?
Oh, I know, it cannot happen to you, right? Is this because you think you are invincible?
Tell me, would you play Russian roulette with a family member? Driving drunk or under the influence of drugs is the same thing in my eyes.
Will you allow your child to play in the streets with oncoming traffic? After all, it is a chance a person takes for them not to be hit.
I cannot remember the last time I went to an event that did not have liquor served. It really seems to be that people cannot have fun without the stuff. Or is it just a means to make money?
This Christmas or any time of the year, please do not drink and drive. It is not worth the risk of killing someone else or yourself.
It is a memory for the family that never goes away. Every time on the news when someone dies from a drunk driver, the memory comes to the surface again.
Do the right thing and get a designated driver. Be responsible and arrive alive; do not drink and drive. Do not be that person who might have to live with that horrible memory of losing someone or having to live with killing someone else’s family. You could be the next victim yourself.
