Annual campaign to prevent impaired driving returns
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Cape Breton and police joined forces on Saturday in an effort to keep roads safe over the holidays.
“I lost my brother and his girlfriend. She was killed instantly. He made it to the hospital, but then he passed away. He had just graduated from para-medicine at St. Anne's University,” said Nita Maclean.
The crash happened in 2004 near St. Pete’s, N.S.
Maclean now volunteers as a member of MADD Cape Breton, and today was on hand help launch their red ribbon campaign.
She says the crash that killed her brother changed her family’s lives.
“Our family was never the same again. It really impacted my mother a lot. She never was the same woman again and she was ill for pretty much the rest of her life and she passed away two years ago,” said Maclean.
Checkpoints will soon be popping up on roadways throughout the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. It's an effort to crackdown on impaired drivers as people get together for the holidays.
“It's important to make proper decisions every year, but again, this time of year, there's more gatherings with family and friends and lots of celebrating, and we want everyone to do it responsibly,” said MADD Cape Breton President Rob Matheson.
According to MADD Canada, drugs and alcohol account for around 55 per cent of all road crash deaths.
Police say it's zero tolerance when it comes to alcohol and drugs. Even having one drink behind the wheel could make difference.
“Make sure you're not going to get behind the wheel and impact someone's life or your own,” said MacLean.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.