THE EXPRESS June 30, 1999 Paga 7 what can you do? Sobering measures for drunk drivers. ARE A YOU Here's a sad statistic: police reports show that more than 50 per cent of the auto collisions police attended in B.C. involve an impaired driver- tory assessment and reha- bilitation program impaired drivers. BCAA mem- for bers strongly endorse this proposal. ROAD' RAGER? surprising, despite great strides made over the past twenty years to '- British Columbia is curb drinking and driving. currently the only BCAAwas a big proponent of the province in Canada that CounterAttack program now widely familiar to all British Columbians. And doesn't have a although the program has effective- mandatory rehabilitation ly reduced the number of drunk program in place. " drivers on the road, a large number of 24-hour roadside suspensions involve repeat In fact, in a recent BCAA offenders. survey, members rated "CounterAttack this effort as the associ- has focused on visi- ation's most impor- ble enforcement, tant issue and, 87 Verbal abuse. Rude gestures. Physical assauit. When drivers let through road per cent of thei:r emotions get the better of them, road rage rears its ugly checks, cou- respondents head. And the consequences can be frightening. pled with high-profile education," says indicated support for the initiative. Think you're not capable? Even the most mild expression BCAA'sJohn Ratel. "But still missing is the It's time to speak out, and prompt the of anger or frustration can be the catalyst to something fat third leg of this initiative to get us to the government to institute the initiative. Call root of the problem: alcohol dependency or write the Premier and your MLA, and worse.Find out if you are a road rager in the making ... and substance abuse." insist they immediately adopt the plan for That's why BCAAhas been urging the mandatory assessment and rehabilitation Do you: provincial government to adopt a manda- of drunk drivers. """°''court,syof 1cBC ♦ Speed past a car to show your anger? ♦ Prevent cars from passing or entering your lane? ♦ Honk your hom In displeasure? Stay safe and secure ♦ Cutoff other drivers? on the road ♦ Drive slowly in passing lanes? ♦ Tailgate? A FEW TIPS: ♦ communicate with hand gestures? ♦ Always have children under twelve ride in the back seat of your vehicle and in an infant car seat or seat belt ♦ Shout obscenities? ♦ A properly positioned headrest goes a long way towards preventing ♦ Get aggressive with aggressive drivers? whiplash. The centre of the headrest should be level with the top of your ♦ Stare at or shake your head at other drivers? ears. ♦ Ensure your infant car seat is installed correctly by attending a FREEBCAA • If you've answered yes to any of these, the first step is to inspection clinic (find a list of recalled infant child restraints on BCAA'sweb site) tty <:hanging your bebaVior and attitude. Start thin.kmg defensively rather than aggressively. Try to be courteous and ♦ Reduce the chance of your vehicle being stolen by registering it with CAT (Combat Auto Theft}, a free service administered by BCM (download a regis- forgiving to other drivers. And if you feel you need it, enroll tration form from BCAA'sweb site) in a course on anger management. • ♦ Pay attention to vehicle recalls. A list of makes and models recalled by man- For more Information on road rage, check out BCAA'sweb ufacturers Is on BCAA'sweb site at www.bcaa.com site at www.bcaa.com Make the right call. For more information, visit BCAA's web site www.BCAA.com