RCMP Cpl Jayson Hansen’s mother Beryl Hansen was killed by an impaired driver.
It’s something, now 25 years on, he carries with him like his duty belt around Charlotte County to keep people safe.
He participated in a ceremony to mark MADD Canada’s Red Ribbon campaign, which runs from Nov. 1 to Jan. 6 – throughout the holiday season. The red ribbon symbolizes the commitment to not drive while impaired.
The Red Ribbon symbolizes the commitment to not drive while impaired. (Vicki Hogarth/CHCO-TV)
“She was just out for a morning walk,” he said in an interview. “It was like 7:15 in the morning. She’s walking, actually (near) the ditch, facing traffic, which should be the safest place to be when she was killed by a driver suspected of being impaired by drugs and alcohol.”
The individual, he explained, was convicted of criminal negligence causing death and sentenced to five years in prison in Manitoba.
“It was a very life-changing moment,” Hansen said. “In the family, there’s like the time before … and after the incident. We never want to say ‘an accident’ because you make the decision to drive impaired. Whatever scene you cause is not an accident. It is a criminal act.”
He wasn’t alone in the shared experience of losing a loved one at the ceremony.
Tony Munn lost a niece to an impaired driver. His 19-year-old niece was on her way home from work – a job she held while training to be a nurse when she was killed.
“It’s still a lasting impact on him,” Munn said, speaking about his niece’s father. “It will never go away and that was in 1991. And today it still affects him.”
Munn is involved in MADD Charlotte County.
“A lot of rural areas seem to have an increased amount per population, and I don’t know the reasons why 100 per cent,” he said.
In Charlotte County, in the last year, there have been two fatalities connected to impaired driving. This past weekend, officers also arrested someone in St. Stephen for impaired driving.
“According to the Traffic Injury Research Foundation, which is the council that tracks it, on average, every day 3.5 Canadians are killed by impaired driving,” Hansen said.
Rates of impaired driving typically go up around the holidays, according to the RCMP.
Mayor Brad Henderson said it should seem like common sense to drive when you use any kind of substance.
“So, despite how education and enforcement is critical to it, it seems like a number of people are still forgetting the most important thing, which is common sense. It’s a crime,” Henderson said. “That’s 100 per cent preventable. The reality is you’re not just putting yourself at jeopardy, you’re putting innocent bystanders.”
All those involved in today’s ceremony said if you believe someone is driving under the influence to call 9-1-1.
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