Here‘s a sobering thought: Kelowna drunk drivers are killing more people every year than almost anywhere else in the province.
The only exceptions are Surrey and Vancouver at No. 1 and No. 2. And some of those drinking drivers no doubt come to the Valley to party and get drunk.
“A lot of people do travel to the Okanagan during the summer especially, which is one of the two highest times in the year for impaired crashes – summertime and Christmas,” said Alyson Gourley-Cramer, ICBC‘s marketing and communications coordinator, on Friday.
“You‘ve got a lot of people who go there to really enjoy themselves and often with that comes drinking. We can‘t directly attribute it to other people, but Kelowna‘s population swells during the summer and that is probably one of the reasons why. That‘s something to be really concerned about.”
ICBC and the RCMP launched their summer CounterAttack program in North Vancouver last week, but organizers considered holding the launch in Kelowna instead “to really bring awareness to the issue,” she noted.
“The Okanagan is such a condensed area and people just gravitate to it during the summer. It‘s not just worrying for your local streets, but on road trips and sharing the highway with all these people.”
Here are the statistics for 2003-07 listed in order by Interior community, annual crash numbers, annual injuries and annual deaths:
Kelowna: 196; 109; 4
Penticton: 57; 33; 2
Vernon: 88; 52; 2
Kamloops: 63; 41; 2
Salmon Arm: 26; 16; 0
In the Southern Interior, the five-year total is 5,310 crashes, 3,430 injuries and 181 deaths.
The trend in alcohol-related motor vehicle injuries is similar to the trend in fatalities. The numbers and percentages declined for many years, levelled off in the 1990s and since 2002 appear to be rising again.
“We can‘t account for that. We can‘t understand why. Our investment in road safety has been the same if not increased over the last few years, especially for this issue,” Gourley-Cramer said.
“We‘ve really put a lot of money into Road Sense speakers who tour the province and talk to young people in schools. It‘s discouraging for us. Hopefully, parents and peers can really impress the importance of this.”
To get the message out to Okanagan youth, 25 schools took advantage of the opportunity to bring in ICBC Road Sense speakers who addressed more than 7,000 students during the past school year, Gourley-Cramer said.
It‘s unrealistic to think that people aren‘t going to drink alcohol, especially during the summer or whenever they celebrate, she acknowledged.
“That‘s usually part of the equation, but you really need to plan for that safe ride home.”
ICBC‘s new safety message is: Drinking and driving starts with your first drink.
Males account for 81 per cent of all impaired drivers in alcohol-related collisions, she said, adding the 16- to 25-age group has the highest number of impaired drivers, accounting for 35 per cent of all impaired drivers in alcohol-related crashes.
On average, there are 5,100 alcohol-related collisions each year in B.C., which cause 3,180 injuries and 116 deaths. The cost to ICBC, passed on to all drivers, is $140 million a year.
On Canada Day, there are approximately 20 alcohol-related crashes in B.C., resulting in 20 injuries and one death.
The pattern is that 62 per cent of all alcohol-related crashes occur on weekends (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) and 48 per cent of alcohol-related crashes occur between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. Alcohol remains in the top five contributing factors for fatal car crashes.
The month-long, province-wide campaign includes enhanced CounterAttack roadchecks, advertising and partnerships with sports facilities, municipalities and businesses.
“I‘ve seen the tremendous damage and pain caused by drinking and driving,” said Solicitor General Kash Heed.
“I particularly want young people to know that they are risking their own lives and the lives of their friends if they make the wrong choice and get behind the wheel when they‘ve been drinking.”
“We have a tough challenge because many people, and particularly young men, aren‘t being honest with themselves about their drinking and driving,” cautioned Nicolas Jimenez, ICBC‘s road safety director.
“The reality is it doesn‘t take much to impair your judgment, hand-eye coordination and reaction time. So if you‘re drinking at a summer barbecue or at a party, it‘s easy to make smart choices: leave your car at home, carpool and designate a driver in advance, call a cab, take transit or ask a sober friend to drive you home.”
Impaired drivers stopped at roadchecks or elsewhere face a range of penalties from 24-hour prohibitions and vehicle impoundments, 90-day administrative driving prohibitions to criminal charges, fines and jail time.
In addition, drivers who have one or more driving-related criminal convictions or two or more roadside suspensions on or after Jan. 1, 2008, will pay ICBC a driver risk premium, separate from insurance premiums.
On top of fines, all convicted drinking drivers who receive multiple driving prohibitions are required to have an ignition interlock device installed in their vehicles, which prevents them from starting or continuing to drive if they‘ve been drinking.
Program evaluations have found up to a 90 per cent reduction in repeat drinking and driving when the device is installed. Top of Page
