Sask. RCMP warn against impaired driving this long weekend

This Labour Day long weekend, RCMP urge motorists to make good choices in the hope that the summer holidays are the only thing coming to an end.

This time four years ago, 17-year-old Alex Ollington had her whole life ahead of her.

“She was a bright, young lady,” her mother Maria Popiwchak said. “She was a very caring individual. She always made time for her friends and a number of them considered her to be their best friend because she was always there to listen.”

Popiwchak describes her daughter as a young woman who always wanted to make a difference, donating to animal charities and donating her hair to cancer foundations.

“The world that she lived in, she wanted to leave a mark and make it a better place.”

Ollington’s life was cut short when she was killed in a crash on Highway 21 just north of Township Road 542 in Alberta on Sept. 17, 2020.

The choice by a driver to drink and drive is only amplified by the Labour Day long weekend, prompting a reminder from SGI that there are alternatives to getting behind the wheel.

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“When it comes to the long weekend, impaired driving is not necessarily up but the potential is there so it’s a perfect time to remind people what their options are,” SGI spokesperson Michaela Solomon said.

SGI recommends having a designated driver, calling for a cab or rideshare, or arranging a ride from family or a friend as ways to avoid impaired driving.

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Even with these options available, people are still choosing to drive under the influence. Saskatchewan RCMP have reported 19 fatal collisions on rural roads so far this year, all attributable to impaired driving.

“I’ve been doing this for quite a number of years and it’s disappointing to see,” said Supt. Grant St. Germaine.

Provincial statistics show alcohol has played a role in almost 30 per cent of fatal collisions each year in Saskatchewan, but recent measures are promising. The province began mandatory alcohol screening at traffic stops in April. Since then, suspensions have risen 165 per cent year-over-year and could jump to 225 per cent by year end.

“The support actually from the public has been 100 per cent behind what we’re attempting to do, which is make the roads safer,” St. Germaine said.

Popiwchak has been fighting for measures like these since losing her daughter. All she asks of drivers this weekend is to take the time to think about their actions, so deaths like Alex’s are prevented.

“It can happen to anyone,” she said. “It happened to me, it happened to the Gaudreau family the other day.”

“You never know what’s going to happen, but if you take care, then it’s less likely that anybody’s going to come to harm and then another family won’t have to deal with this tragedy … There is a safe way home, all we need to do is take the time to take it.”

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