Motorists on Highway 18 in Westlock were slightly delayed last Saturday night, but it was all for a good reason.
Members of the Westlock RCMP were conducting a checkstop with the help of a group of St. Mary students, Students Against Dangerous Decisions (SADD), to help promote safe driving.
SADD member Josh Block said despite the cold, he was happy to be out talking to motorists about drunk driving.
“We need people to know what we’re doing, so hopefully the number of people dying in drunk driving collisions is lessened,” he said. “Even one is too many.”
As motorists passed through, a member of the RCMP stopped them to tell them about the checkstop, then the students would come talk to them about SADD and its goals.
The also provided information to motorists about the number of people killed in drunk driving collisions each year: more than 1,500 in Canada.
Const. Jim Jimmo, one of the RCMP members involved in the event, said the problem of impaired driving is as prevalent in this area as it is anywhere else.
“It’s a problem all over the province; Westlock is not alone,” he said. “In any given week, we get two or three drunk drivers.”
Connie Barabas, one of SADD’s advisors, said prior to this year the group has focused just on activities within the school, but this year they wanted to get the message out in the community, as well.
“That’s our future goal as well — to get involved with other community groups to promote the message,” she said.
She added she was happy to see that students were willing to give up their time to talk about this message, and said she was proud of how passionate they are about their cause because it helps get the message across.
“It’s about youth reaching youth,” she said.
The students in the group see that as the goal as well, although some concede it’s not always easy to reach the older students.
“There are some people who think it’s just a waste,” Block said. “But I think it’s a really good influence on the younger kids.”
“We’re trying to minimize destructive decision-making,” said Nadine Duperron, another SADD member. “When the younger kids grow up they’ll understand the meaning of what we’re doing.”
Saturday’s checkstop didn’t generate any arrests, but Jimmo said that wasn’t necessarily the purpose of such a high-visibility event. Rather, the purpose was to be more of a public relations thing: to let people know that the RCMP are out there, and they will catch you if you drive drunk.
