Alcohol and gas don’t mix
Friday May 16 2008
The timing really could not have been better.
Safe Communities of the Hill Country had a PARTY (Prevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth) at Centre Dufferin District high school on Tuesday morning. Students, police, firefighters and paramedics staged a mock drunk-driving accident. One youth was killed, a second arrested for impaired driving.
PARTY’s mission is to promote injury prevention through reality education, enabling youth to recognize risk and make informed choices about activities and behaviours.
The greatest incidence of alcohol-related death and injury occurs in the 15 to 24 year age group. PARTY was created to educate teens to the perils of risk-taking behaviour and the tragic consequences that can occur.
With the unofficial start of the summer season — the Victoria Day long weekend — upon us, there could not be a more appropriate time to remind students — through this dramatic event — and the public at large — by staging the mock accident in public and encouraging local press to come out and document it — about the dangers of drinking and driving.
There is something carefree about long summer weekends — but unfortunately some people go far beyond taking a relaxed approach to the time off and abandon all common sense by imbibing a few drinks and getting behind the wheel.
At this time of year, newspapers and newscasts are filled with stories of people arrested, injured and killed because they’ve chosen to mix alcohol and motorized vehicles, be they cars or boats.
We’ve said this many times before, but we’ll say it again: If you drink, don’t drive. It’s illegal; it’s dangerous; and the risks — criminal charges, loss of license, injury to self or others, loss of life — are just not worth it.
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