IMPAIRED DRIVING IN PROVINCE
Death, injury rates in steep decline
The province used statistics to illustrate that Saskatchewan is on the right path when it comes to impaired driving, but it was an emotional plea from Linda and Lou Van de Vorst that provided the reason why residents must continue to be vigilant.
The Van de Vorsts are the parents of Jordan Van de Vorst, who in 2016 died with his wife Chanda, their five-year-old daughter Kamryn and two-year-old son Miguire in a crash that was caused by an impaired driver.
Speaking at an SGI news conference in Regina on Wednesday, Lou Van de Vorst referenced a 2018 crash that took the life of 11-yearold Sophie Schnurr.
“It burns me here,” said Lou while clutching his chest.
“When I hear those things because it’s so unnecessary, so irresponsible on the person who has taken some drinks and has decided to get into a car.”
The Van de Vorsts have dedicated themselves to sharing their story to in an effort to prevent further deaths, but it’s not easy.
“There are many other people that have lost loved ones due to an impaired driving crash, and every time they bring it up it hurts. You have no idea the hurt that they have to go through,” said Linda.
Preliminary numbers provided by SGI show that in 2019, 21 people were killed in collisions involving impaired driving. That’s down 61 per cent from an annual average of 54 between 2009 and 2018.
Injuries resulting from impaired driving are also trending down. There were 332 injures in 2019, compared to an annual average of 595 over the past 10 years.
The fatality and injury stats are the lowest SGI has on record. Joe Hargrave, the minister responsible for SGI, said he believed the downward trend to be the result of a culture change in the province’s attitude toward impaired driving.
“These numbers are further evidence that Saskatchewan is making major progress on the province’s historically high impaired driving rates. The result is more lives saved, and fewer families having to experience the senseless tragedy of seeing someone they love killed or severely injured due to impaired driving,” said Hargrave.
Little is known about where Saskatchewan currently stands compared to other provinces. The last statistics from Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada are from 2014, when 27 per cent of fatal crashes in Saskatchewan involved alcohol, the second highest in the country.
While 2019 numbers aren’t available from every province, Saskatchewan’s performance impressed MADD Canada CEO Andrew Murie.
“These are numbers that are unreal for not only for Canada, but globally,” said Murie.
Kwei Quaye, SGI’S vice-president of traffic safety, echoed Murie in saying that even taken on their own, Saskatchewan’s numbers are a dramatic change.
“I’ve been in the field of traffic safety and road safety for a long time, and a change of 60 per cent in a problem like impaired driving is really out of the ballpark. It’s something that you don’t see,”
Some of the initiatives being credited with prompting the decrease include increased police enforcement, tougher laws for impaired driving, public awareness campaigns, ride share services and efforts by the hospitality industry to help patrons get home safely.
Lou commended Saskatchewan residents for the decrease, but said more needs to be done to drive the number down even farther.
“Zero,” interjected Linda when Lou began saying what kind of reduction he wanted to see.
“I would love to see zero, but I know even a lower number again, that means we’re on the right track,” replied Lou.