'100 per cent preventable': Signs around Vancouver urge drivers to report impaired driving

One of the "Campaign 911" signs put up around Vancouver is pictured.

Over a dozen road signs have been put up around Vancouver reminding anyone who spots a driver they may suspect to be impaired to call 911.

It’s all part of a road safety initiative called “Campaign 911,” a collaboration between Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada (MADD), the Vancouver Police Department, the City of Vancouver and ICBC.

Drivers are asked to take note of the make of the car, licence plate number, location and direction of travel, and then pull over and call 911 if they think someone is driving drunk or high.

“Impaired driving is 100 per cent preventable and so are the crashes and tragic deaths and injuries that it causes,” said MADD spokesperson Inderjeet Singh Wednesday at the campaign launch in East Vancouver.

“With each impaired driver we take off the road or waterway, we’re potentially saving the life and preventing injuries to someone we love.”

According to MADD, an average of 10 federal criminal charges or provincial short-term licence suspensions for alcohol or drug-impaired driving are handed out every hour in Canada.

“Impaired driving deaths destroy families, tear apart communities and leave a deep and lasting impact on first responders,” said acting Insp. Andrea Anderson with the VPD.

“As 2023 comes to a close and we’re approaching the holiday season, nothing would make me happier than to know that none of my fellow officers will be knocking on a stranger's door in the middle of the night, delivering the devastating news that their loved one has been seriously injured or killed due to a collision that was completely preventable,” she continued.

Anderson urged anyone with plans that involve any amount of drugs or alcohol to plan a safe way home ahead of time—such as taking transit, booking a taxi or ride share, calling a friend or having a designated driver.