Eagleview students work to stop impaired driving

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When her mother was in a car accident, Eagleview Comprehensive student Joanna Moosewah became all too aware of the fragility of life.

That's why she joined the Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD) campaign at the Onion Lake high school. And in the past year, she has become one of the cause's more vocal supporters at Eagleview.

"That's what got me motivated to get involved in SADD," the Grade 11 student said. "The accident had a big impact on me and just the thought of losing my mother."

While Joanna Moosewah's mom survived, an average of four Canadians per day perish on the nation's roads and highways as a result of impaired drivers.

Although alcohol is the leading cause to impairment, other contributing factors include illegal drugs and even prescription or over-the-counter medications that cause symptoms of drowsiness. When they were first founded, programs such as SADD had a mandate of working to keep drunk drivers from getting behind the wheel. Now the focus has broadened to trying to eliminate all impaired driving.

The SADD chapter at Eagleview started this past March after Joanna Moosewah, Dawn Jimmy and Charlene Moosewah attended a national conference in Toronto. With more than 400 students participating, the three-day gathering centred on how to continue to work toward reducing impaired driving.

During Eagleview Comprehensive's Spirit Week in October, the two dozen members of the students' band council organized various activities to spread that message. In addition to a red ribbon campaign, students had the opportunity to wear goggles that reduce a person's sight and depth perception to demonstrate what it's like being impaired.

Candy with anti-impaired driving messages and mocktails, non-alcoholic drinks, were also sold. The money raised this year will allow SADD members to attend the 13th annual Canadian Youth Against Impaired Driving Conference being held in Regina from March 20 to 22.

Co-ordinating Eagleview's effort is teacher Wendy Lindsay, who says SADD isn't there to preach or even to deny kids fun, but to give them the message that partying needs to be done responsibly.

"You have to make sure you have a designated driver," Lindsay said of the school's Be a Zero Hero slogan. "The mocktails proved that you don't need alcohol to have fun."

Although Onion Lake is a dry reserve, that actually can make the problem of impaired driving worse. The closest site to purchase liquor is a 15-minute drive away and to "hit the town" requires a half-hour trip to Lloydminster.

In both cases, the two-lane roads when returning are unlit, can be unpaved and are usually unforgiving. That's under the best of conditions, let alone having a driver without all of his or her faculties.

As part of Eagleview's holiday blitz, the council will be involved at a RCMP checkstop in early December to be set up on the highway out of town. Even though few at the school are legally permitted to drink, Jimmy thinks the presence of students can act as a deterrent to destructive behaviour.

"By us trying to get the message out there, we can show them at a young age to encourage the adults not to drink and drive," said this Grade 11 student. "Being the youth, we can set an example for the older ones."

In addition to the checkstop, the students will create promotional ads for KR97, the local radio station in Onion Lake.

To her knowledge, Joanna Moosewah, who hopes to continue her anti-impaired driving campaigning after Eagleview, doesn't believe drinking and driving is a major problem in Onion Lake. But because she does know of several deaths from this unnecessary tragedy, the message must be repeated continuously.

"We're trying to raise awareness that drinking and driving is bad and to make sure there aren't people doing this," she said.