Footage of arrests used in latest YRP anti-drunk driving video
Posted December 28, 2018 3:17 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The latest anti-drunk driving campaign from York Regional Police features footage of impaired drivers in the back of police cruisers — part of an effort to grab attention and keep an old message “fresh and new,” say police.
The satirical video, which advertises the force’s tongue-in-cheek ‘RIDEshare’ service, features a voice-over asking, “Are you too drunk too drive? But too stupid or cheap to use one of those other options?”
It also features footage from real-life impaired driving arrests, including a man struggling to get into the cruiser, a woman thanking police for arresting her and a man confessing his love to an officer.
“Certainly there’s some interesting things that come up in the cruiser,” says Const. Laura Nicolle.
And while the video is “amusing,” Nicolle says police hope the serious message behind it prompts people to make different choices when it comes to drinking and driving.
“Obviously there’s a serious message behind this – that we’re going to be out and arresting these people,” says Nicolle.
York Regional Police say they have laid over 1,600 charges related to impaired driving this year, and Nicolle says the force is charging 20-30 impaired drivers every week.
In September 2015, three young children and their grandfather were killed when convicted drunk driver Marco Muzzo slammed into their vehicle. Nicolle says police thought the devastating crash would have prompted people to make different choices, but “unfortunately every week, we are getting the same kind of numbers.”
In recent months, York Regional Police have started to publish the names of people charged with impaired driving.
“It’s not intended to shame a person,” says Nicolle. She says it is part of an effort to treat impaired driving the same as other serious criminal charges.
