Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has a message for drunk drivers: you are being watched.
The national organization launched an Alberta-wide Report Impaired Drivers (RID) — Call 911 program in Red Deer on Thursday.
The goal is to encourage motorists or any others to report suspected drunk drivers by pulling over and dialling 911 and calling in a location, licence number and vehicle description if possible.
The program has proven a success in other places, increasing arrest rates for impaired driving by an average of 30 per cent.
Aleta Neville’s 21-year-old son Brent was killed on her birthday on March 17, 2006. He was a passenger in a car driven by a lifelong friend, who had been drinking, before he lost control and hit a light standard on a Calgary street.
Aleta, president of MADD’s Red Deer and district chapter, later learned that witnesses had seen the speeding car and suspected the driver was drunk but did nothing.
“Our lives are forever changed. A part of you dies,” she said at a news conference for the 911 program at the north side RCMP station. “We are left with broken hearts but ultimately Brent lost the most.”
A series of 18 road signs will be set up around Alberta with the message: “It’s your community. It’s your call. Report Impaired Drivers. Pull over. Call 911.”
