22 - Sunday, April 26, 1987 - North Shore News

1977-1987

SPRING COUNTERATTACK
Blitz to target
drinking drivers

EXTP.A ROADBLOCKS and watchful gas station atten-
dants are some of the promises made for the Spring
CounterAttack blitz on the North Shore.

CounterAttack, a program aim-
ed at reducing impaired’ driving,
has been so successful over the last
10 years that Christmas and New
Year’s holidays are now the safest
time of the year for sober
motorists, according to ICBC.

But as the temperature rises, the
insurance. corporation says, so

does the number of drunk drivers,.

and spring now has the highest rate
of impaired. driving accidents of
the year.

‘It could be that during the
month of December, the
CounterAttack program has ‘taken
effect,’’ suid West Vancouver Cst.
David Bingham, “and maybe they
lose that consciousness in the spr-
ing.”

The difference between’ the
number . of alcohol-related acci-
dents causing injury or death dur-
ing the winter and the spring is 41
per cent, according to ICBC
statistics.

However, the number of arrests
for impaired driving on the North
Shore does not reflect that.

In the April-May period of 1986,
a total of 106 arrests were made,
while 88.impaired driving charges
were laid in the December-January
period following; a 17 per cent dif-
ference. :

By JUSTINE HUNTER
Contributing Writer

The spring CounterAttack blitz,
which runs until May 4, will be
“something along the same lines
that we do at Christmas time” in
North Vancouver, said RCMP Sgt.
Larry Boan.

“We will not just be looking for
drunk driving, but other offences
as well,’”’ he said.

“We hope to have road blocks
up every day, at different times
and places, but it will depend on
manpower,”

North Shore gas stations that
belong to the Automotive Retailers
Association are being mobilized to
report ‘suspected impaired drivers
to the police.

_ The participating stations will. §
encourage their staff to report

anyone they feel could be danger-
ous on the road.

Al Simmons, executive director
of the association, said that gas
pump operators are in the best
position to spot drunk drivers.

One third of all criminal cases in
B.C. involve impaired driving, and
22,000 people are charged each
year on average, with a 90 per cent
conviction rate.

STUDENTS FROM Handsworth Secondary School view student displays on the CounterAttack theme at a
recent assembly. Pietured are Grade 9 students Melanie O'Brien (left) and Audrie Lukosevicius. .

TEENS WOULD rather risk drinking and driving than risk
punishment from their parents, ICBC researchers say.

“The concept of calling home
for help...might work well were it
not for a lack of understanding be-
tween parents and young People,’ ”
a press release from the insurance
corporation states.

“When asked, most young”

drivers said they felt that the risk
of punishment by their parents was

. greater than the risk of getting

caught by the police or being in-

jured in a crash,” according to the .

research.

Traffic accidents are the leading -

cause of death for youth between
15 and 25, and ICBC states that,

Contributing Writer
of those children who are 10 years
old today, one in 20 will be killed
or injured in drinking-driving ac-
cidents by 1997.

In a survey of licensed students,
15 per cent said they wMl drink and
drive, and more than a quarter of
them said they would ride with a
drinking driver.

Although many. youth surveyed

Seo Teenagers
Page 23 :

Since 1977, B.C.’s Drinking Driving CounterAttack program has cut down the car-

—O N A L L nage caused by impaired drivers. Thanks to police road checks, tough laws and con-
cerne# citizens, over 8,000 people have been spared injury or death over CounterAt-

T U N E. U PS 4 : tack’s first decade. ; —
qf Still, each year, more British Columbians are killed by drinking drivers than by
B R fl K E S murderers. Alcohol is still the leading cause of death on the read.
= ca 1

The Spring CounterAttack Blitz, April 13 to May 4 is our best way to fight back
and save lives. Police roadchecks will be up any hour, day or night to catch drinking
drivers and get them off the road. .

Do your part. If you drink, don’t drive and never ride with a drinking driver. Heip
a friend make it home safely and, if you see a drinking driver, call the police.

Let’s back Spring CounterAttack.

POLICE ROADCHECKS