MADD Launch Red Ribbon Campaign

Friday, 1 November 2013 20:26

Oxford's Chapter of Mother's Against Drunk Driving launched their first ever Red Ribbon campaign Friday.

7.4 seconds.

The time that elapsed between the traffic light turning amber, to the time that the pickup truck of an impaired driver slammed into the side of the Fleming-Rodrigues vehicle.

Many tears were being wiped from the eyes of those in attendance as Mary Rodrigues shared that information with the crowd that showed up to Oxford's MADD Red Ribbon campaign kick off Friday afternoon at Museum Square, downtown Woodstock.

Rodrigues, the mother of Baby Alex who was killed by a drunk driver Thanksgiving weekend 2008, says this campaign is very important to her. "It means a lot, knowing that people across Canada are supporting victims across Canada. That this country is getting together and supporting each other."

The Mayor, MPP, Police, Fire and EMS all joined Oxford MADD Community Leader Karmel Smith for the county's first ever Red Ribbon launch. "We're trying to prevent collisions from happening around the holiday season, that's the time when people are getting together drinking and not really thinking about what they're doing. On each ribbon it says to cal 911 if you see a suspected impaired driver, so these ribbons are just to remind you if you see an impaired driver call it in".

Constable Darcy Campbell, who was the first officer on scene at the impaired crash that took the life of Baby Alex, spoke to the crowd of his experiences when he responded to that crash, referring to it as "the hardest day in his policing career" as both an officer and a father.

Pat Sobeski, Ernie Hardeman, Police Chief Rod Freeman and Paul Graham of the Woodstock Fire Department also spoke at Friday's launch of the Red Ribbon campaign, all throwing their support behind the work of MADD Canada, urging the public to spread the word of the importance of stopping drinking and driving and calling 911 if they see a suspected drunk driver.

Rodrigues ended her speech with a question for all to answer; "Are you willing to drink, even a few glasses of alcohol, and get behind the wheel and drive and believe wholeheartedly that one of these times 7.4 seconds is more than enough time for you to react? Even though all the statistics tell you that your reaction time slows down significantly with every glass you drink".