Lessons learned on drinking and driving

Article in Oakville Today
By Ian Holroyd
Arts & Entertainment
Dec 04, 2008



Never in my life have police officers been so eager to see me drink beer.
I volunteered to be a guinea pig for the Halton Regional Police Service impaired driving media event hosted by Drivewise driving school last Friday.
My job was to have lunch, drink beer, take breathalyzers as I progress – or regress as it were – and drive a state of the art driving simulator.
It was the sweetest assignment that has ever come across my desk.
If I took too long with a beer, an officer was right there to get me going again and if my beer was low an officer was there to top me up. It was the best service I have ever had.
But I wasn’t there just to enjoy the company, the beverages and the corned beef sandwiches with sauerkraut–delicious by the way–I was there to report on the seriousness of drinking and driving and how alcohol can affect everyone differently.
I am a lanky fellow and alcohol affects me in a way that I can only describe as, debilitating.
After five beers and a corned beef sandwich, I was having, what I thought, was an eloquent, intelligent conversation with officer Keith Nakahara. He noticed I was slurring my speech and administered a quick eye test.
Officer Nakahara thought that I would be lucky to pass a breathalyzer and at least I would blow a 12-hour suspension.
‘There is no way I’m going to blow over already,’ I thought. But boy can he spot ‘em.
I did a breathalyzer right away. I blew a .070, still under the legal limit of .080 but over the .050 of a 12-hour suspension. I was shocked. I only had five beers.
I spoke with a gentleman named Rich who was all too familiar with the process of being charged with impaired driving. He volunteered his time to speak with the media and warn the public about the dangers of drinking and getting behind the wheel.
“There is a lot of humiliation involved with getting pulled over,” said Rich. “But, I was lucky enough not to hurt anybody or myself in the process.”
Along the embarrassment of being charged with impaired, Rich had to pay an $1100 fine and had a year suspension on his license. After the year, he had the option of serving a second year suspension on his license or installing a breathalyzer in his car at his expense. The breathalyzer, with installation, recalibration and extraction, cost him about $1000 when all was said and done.
It is worth the $10 cab ride.
“We’re all adults and we’ve go to make adult choices,” said Rich.
On that note, I cracked my seventh beer because by then I was determined to blow over and tackle the Drivewise simulator.
I was getting loose and feeling confident that I could beat the machine. Alcohol affects people in strange ways.
I blew a .132 with my next breathalyzer, almost double the legal limit and was ready to go. As I was waiting my turn, another volunteer, Steph Cousens, 23, hit a pedestrian in her virtual reality auto and I started to get nervous.
I buckled my seat belt and started her up, so far so good. I pulled away, but I forgot to turn my blinker off. Apparently, I was speeding too.
I spotted a cute little deer grazing at the side of the road. “You stay right there,” I said pointing at him, looking through one half opened eye. Like I said, alcohol affects people in crazy ways.
Next thing I knew, Bambi was smeared across the grill of my simulated sedan. I didn’t even see it coming. There was a large crash and I was sent clear to the other side of the road.
I was dead and the deer was dead all because I was too drunk to drive.
Every year Halton Police and MADD Canada embark upon anti-drinking and driving campaigns around the holidays, but people still don’t get the message. If you drink, don’t drive. It just isn’t worth it.For more information about not drinking and driving visit, www.madd.ca or for more information on the Halton Regional Police Service visit www.hrps.on.ca.