No

. PRIME MINISTER: PREMIER MINISTRE

!

oe _ Seeause of the continuous efforts
of the Canada Safety Council and its volun-
.teear supporters, December 1 to 7 has become
- established throughout Canada as Safe

Driving Week.

It has an impressive history

of success in the numbers of lives saved

_ It has shown what

a Please do your part by driving safely
‘go that others may. follow your example.

l

i Cd

DEFENSIVE DRIVING COURSE -

yo TOUT OF 2

Pierre Elliott Trudeau

=

people will be involved in a traffic accident in
his lifetime. Often the result will be crippling.

mae ode injury or death,

“WILL YOU BE ONE OF THEM?
Nearly 85 per cent of all traffic accidents:

fit,

_ could be prevented if drivers knew crash:

“avoidance techniquas . .

. and used: them.

'-. Yeu can learn these techniques through the

CANADA SAFETY COUNCIL'S

i" """” DEFENSIVE DRIVING
Oe SQURSE .
_... DDG COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE! re

we - -
Section 254 of the Criminal Code of Canada states that
impaired driving is. an offence even if the driver's blaod

By a breathalizer — a simple, rellable instrument. You.

breathe into a tube. The device indicates whether or not
your bloodstream has an aleohol content of more than point

" Zero ‘elght. -

~ 'Youa

WHO MAKES THE TEST?

Any peace officer, anywhere in Canada is em
reasonable grounds, to require
test if you are incontro! of a motor vehicle.
WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU FAIL THE TEST?

If the breathalizer indicates more alcohol than
_ eight you are subject to the penalties listed in this article.
‘ SUPPOSE YOU REFUSE TO TAKE THE TEST?

$1,000 or less than’$50 or jail for not more than six months, 08. . oo. ok
or both, ASD THE Lose a For safety it is preferable not to drive after ig fe
. ou drive, wait at least one ‘ounces (42,
“Refusal to take the test’ is algo a‘ criminal offence and 1. OF YOUR at ‘ 8.) of spirits, S ounces (85 rs.) or ead cine. 8 ounces
DRIVER'S LICENCE ft ‘of beer

makes you liabte to the same penalties as If you had failed
the test. : a

PENALTIES ©
“Section 234 —

First Offence — a fine of not more than $500 or less than
$50 or jail for three month, or both.

" pesponsible hos

“The interval formula”

The Canada Safety Couneil is introducing a new driving:

“gancept at the same time as it launches “Safe Driving
Week” (December 1 to 7) for the 20th time.

fe ‘gules he ame Interval Formula”, this idea will help
‘I seek the support o fall for this + : ; Mee adjust some of their habits to metric driving, and
_> "hh ne of the major causes of traffic accidents, injuries and

help keep them safe at the same time.

deaths, according to the Council, is following too closely.

Unexpected turns or emergency stops by the vehicle im-

mediately in front canlead toa crash if insufficient space is
- maintained. ;

Traffic safety authorities used to suggest one car length,
or about 20 feet, for each 10 MPH oi speed, and many
driversstill try to use that old adage. However, researchers
learned that a great many people ve difficulty in judging
distance — particularly while in motion. The onset of metric
measurements may confuse drivers even more — so, the
Safety Council has a new idea to promote:

Never follow atlessthan a two secend interval. That is, as

the vehicle in front passes a stationary object, start.

counting ‘one thousand and one, one thousand and two’ etc,
in normal cadence. If ‘two’.is reached befere-the object is
passed, the following distance is normally adequate. If the
object is passed first, thevehicleistooclose. _

_ Naturally, there are adjustments needed to suit various
conditions and specific vehicles, such as when towing a
trailer not equipped with brakes, or in snowy conditions
after dark. These are all detailed in a new leaflet which the
Canada Safety Council hopes employers will distribute to
their employees as part of Safe Driving Week.

‘Do not drink and drive

year, many authorities join with the Canada Safety
Council in advising drivers not to drive after drinking.
“ Safe Driving Week in Canada falls on December 1 to 7,
and the Council finds the situation this year little different.
“We know,” says spokesman Ed Hession, Traffie Safety
Manager at the Canada Safety Council, ‘that there will be a
new crop of impaired drivers this holiday Season, just as
there was last. We know too that some party hosts will have
little concern for their guests, and press ‘one more for
the road’ on a departing driver in accordance with some
grossly erroneous ldea of

tality"’.
‘ihe result is well know to persons in the news media,’
Photographers will take pictures of twisted, tangled
wreckage that was once a carload of happy people.
Obituary writers search constantly for a new, but still
acceptable way of saying a victim died in an automobile
accident. Statisticians keep tallies of the death toll, while

hospital personnel use ridiculous amounts of valuable time °
and resources in treating victims of needless accidents, and" '

we all go blithely’ on assuming it can only happen to the:
other guy....or his family. ot
- Safe Driving Week may be for drivers, but the Safety.
Council hopes party givers will also take note, and be

nd the law on

owered, on
ou to take the breathalizer

Int zero

WHY THIS LAW? |

BE CAUTIOUS

what constitutes cordial '
- elose attention to changing conditions,

. records

drinking and driving
Second Offence — jail for nat more than three months and
not leas than 14 days. Subsequent offences mean jail for not
more than one year but not less than three months.

Section 235 and Section 23
On summary conviction on

6.
ly — a fine. of not more than.

Traffie acclderits killed 6,025
percent of these deaths involv

y,

"The key to safety”

Drivers should think of the car key as “their key to
safety", according to the Canada Safety Council.

Inbringing the 1976 version of ‘Safe Driving Week” to the
attention of Canadian drivers, the Council suggests that the
key to safety is in the hands of each individual at the wheel
of a powered vehicle.

Before placing the key in the ignition, a driver should

know beyondany doubt that the vehicle isin asafe condition -

drive...that brakes, steering, lights, ete. all work

properly: -

The driver must also be certain beyond doubt that he or
she sina fit medical and mental condition to drive, and it is
in the latter category that many tragedies originate.

All too often, a driver may be responding to pressures
that have nothing todo with driving acar. It may be the loss
of a job, fight with a spouse or lover, or worry over a sick
loved one. Each reduces a driver’s ability to think quickly
and clearly ‘and to react promptly to sudden situations.

Most ‘drivers can remember some such situation: one
arrives ata point with a sudden realization that nothing is
remembered about the past mile or so. We have driven by
instinct, one eye on the road, but mental attention
somewhere else entirely. . .

Itis a form of impairment that no breathalyzer will ever
measure, No one can take such a driver off the road except
himself.'Until he hits something! .

Fewer accidents
in February

In Canada, February usually has fewer traffic accident

fatalities than any other month. ;
‘Experts consider that this is not a result of a slightly

shorter month, but rather a combination of the fact that few

people make unnecessary journeys in February, and most

Canadians have come to terms with winter driving con-
ditions. .

“Safe Driving Week" comes in December .... at the

beginning of the winter driving season. Not only are we all

bustling about with seasonal shopping and visiting, but in
many parts of the country, we. are also beginning to en-
zounter occasional ice or snow patches for the first time..
The Canada Saféty Council therefore asks drivers to pay
and make ap-

propriate allowances. Conditions themselves do not cause

. aceidents .... it’s the drivers who fail to adjust to those

conditions. Most of us have adjusted by February, a3 the
show. If we could complete that adjustment two
months earlier, the holiday season traffic toll could be much
lighter than ever before. oo,

It is happening...gradually. Safe Driving Week started in
December, twenty years ago, because December was the
worst month of thé year. Now more than half the other
months show worse fatality figures. The Safet Council is
wondering if it should have a
month. :

~ factors. a

. : . ; __ consumed.
ople in 1975. At least 50
alcohol. :

ROADS.

To

THE HERALD, Wednesday, December 1, 1976, PAGE cad

‘Safe Driving Week” every

reaching .08, The quantity ean vat de pending on the
of drink, the time Hotween drinks ry depends Pat
and when you ate last, your body weight: and many other

Remember, driving impairment may be reached before.

41.7 grs.) of table wine or 12 cunces (340 grs.) of

7 FEN EN Te oe oun SANE On OUR
' EVER 1H)
“No one knows exactly haw much they can drink before . R

‘leant be:
dead. -
I'm only 17°

The following article,
written by a teenager, wag
printed the Laurence.
school newspaper and then
re-printed in Press,
Ucluelet, B.C. The author
has titled his work In Love
With Life or How It Would
Be If I Were Killed In An
Automobile Accident. -

Agony claws my mind, I
am a statistic. When I first
got here I felt very much
alone. Iwas overwhelmed
with grief and expected to
find sympathy. o

I found no sympatiy. J
saw only thousands of othe
bodies who were as badly
mangled as 1. l was given a
num r and piece in a
category. The category was
calle) “Traffic Fatalities”.

‘The day I died was an
ordinary school day. How-I
wish I had taken the bus, but
I was too cool for the bus.-E
remember how I wheedled
the car out of mom. .

“Snecial favour,’ 1
pleaded, ‘‘all the kids
drive.” =

When the 2:50 bell rang I
threw my books in
locker. I was free until 8:40
tomorrow morning. I ran to
the parking lot — excited at
the thought of driving a car
and being my own boss.
FREE. t

It doesn't matter how the
accident happened. I was
goofing off — going too fast.
Was ei crazy chances. pee
was enjoying m and m
freedom and Taving fun.
The last thing I remember
WAS passing an old lady who
seemed to be going awfully
slow. .
I heard a defeaning crash
and felt a terrific jolt. Glaés
and steel flew everywhere.
My whole body seemed to be
burning inside out. I heard:
myself scream. Suddenly -t
awakened. It was very
quiet. A police officer was
standing over me. Then “I
saw a doctor. My body was
mangled. I was saturated
with blood. Pieces of jagged
glass were sticking out all
over, Strange that [ couldn’t
feel anything. ,

Hey, don't pull that sheet
over my head, [ can't be

grow
wonderful life.
lived yet. I can’t be dead.

Later, I was placed in a
drawer, my f had t
‘Identify me. Why did they
have to see me like this?
Why did I have to look at
Mom’s eyes when she faced
the most terrible ordeal df
her life?’ Dad suddenly
looked like an old man. He
told the man in charge,
“Yes, he is our son”., =

The funeral was a weird

experience. I saw all mj
relatives and friends walk
toward the casket, They

ssed by, one by one, and
ooked at me with the
‘saddest eyes I've ever seen.
Some of my buddies were
crying, A few of the girls
touched my hand and
sobbed as they walked
away:

Please — somebody ~
wake me up! Get me out of
here. 1 can't bear to see my
mom and dad se broken up.
My prondparene are 80
ra with grief they can
barely walk. My brother and
sister are. like zombies.
They move like robots. In a
daze. Everybody. No one

can believe this, And I can’t | ‘|

believe it either. Please
don’t bury me. I'm net
dead! Ihave a lot of living to
do! I want to laugh and run
again. I want -to sing and
dance. Please don’t put me
in the ground. I promise [f
you give just one more
chance, God, I'll be the most
careful driver in the whole
world. All I want is one more
chance, please God, I'm

LY ses . ;

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