A new campaign aims to combat impaired driving in Windsor-Essex.
MADD Windsor and Essex County is partnering with Windsor and Essex County Crime Stoppers in the fight against impaired driving through MADD Canada’s Campaign 911 program.
“We are thrilled and excited for this new partnership with Crime Stoppers,” says Chaouki Hamka, community leader for the local group of MADD Canada.“Crime Stoppers allows persons to report information about criminal activity including impaired driving offences – this falls in line with Campaign 911 and its purpose.”
Campaign 911 is a Canada-wide campaign to encourage and empower the Canadian public to report suspected impaired driving by calling 911.
Impaired driving is a leading criminal cause of death in Canada and, yet, every impaired driving crash is preventable.
By calling 911 and reporting suspected impaired drivers to police, all Canadians can play a role in keeping our roads and safe and in reducing impaired driving crashes, deaths and injuries.
The public is encouraged to call 911 if they see a driver they suspect is impaired and there is an immediate danger.
In instances where someone knows of a person who regularly drives impaired but that person is not driving right at that moment, they can call Crime Stoppers to report it to 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.catchcrooks.com.
Kristina Gilboe, Police Coordinator with Windsor & Essex County Crime Stoppers says when using Crime Stoppers telephone or web tip service, the public should remember that it is not monitored in live time.”
“To effectively use Crime Stoppers as a reporting avenue, we will need to know the person’s name, vehicle information, home address and when the offence usually occurs in order to assist the police with the follow up investigation,” Gilboe.
The Campaign 911 program has already been rolled out in Windsor; However, MADD Windsor & Essex County is looking at revamping the program and adding more signs in Windsor and hoping to move the program into the neighbouring towns of Essex, Amherstburg, and LaSalle.
On average, 3.5 Canadians are killed and 207 are injured every day as a result of impaired driving. Effective 911 programs have been shown to increase arrest rates for impaired driving by 30 per cent on average.
