THE ANNUAL season to
celebrate brings with it an
ever-increasing annual
vigilance from police forces
and private citizens to keep
drinking drivers off B.C.
highways.

During the Dec. 8 to Jan. 10
Christmas CounterAttack Road-

check Blitz, provincial police will-

check an estimated 200,000 to
300,000 vehicles.

On the North Shore, RCMP and
West Vancouver Police will aug-
ment what is now a year-round
program of roadside checks with
an intensified series of quick,
mobile ‘flying’? roadblocks in
streets surrounding popular drink-
ing establishments and nightclubs.

The move away from massive
main artery roadblocks to smaller,
more select spot checks has been
made :) maximize the efficiency of
what can be limited manpower.

In addition to police forces and
the Ministry of the Attorney
General, the CounterAttack pro-
gram is strongly supported by the
Insurance Corporation of B.C.
(ICBC), which directly bears and
administers the staggering financial
and social cost of drinking drivers.

Since the CounterAttack began
in 1977, the number of alcohol-
related traffic accidents during the
Christmas ‘season has dropped
from 20 per cent of all traffic ac-
cidents to eight per cent of all traf-
fic accidents in 1985.

. That .reduction .translates to.an......CPL. WAYNE

annual saving of about 30 lives,
850 injuries and over $10 million in
costs.

Drinking drivers cost the people
of B.C. an estimated $130 million
dollars annually in medical, in-

surance and court costs.
CounterAttack’s annual budget
is $600,000.
According to provincial and
local CounterAttack statistics, the
Christmas season is now one of the

33 ~ Wednesday, December 17, 1986 - North Shore News

safest times of the year to drive

and the time when people are least

likely to be hit by drinking drivers.

Harsher jail terms and an overall
public awareness of the tragedies
and destruction that result from

drinking and driving are gradually
changing public attitudes toward
drinking and driving, especially
during the festive season.

See 22,000

: NEWS Photo Tom Burtay
McLarcen.demonstrates.tie mechanics’ of a’ breathalyzer. omeof the holding célis.at the North Vancouver police station: