MADD reacts to proposed changes for Sask. drunk driving laws

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is coming out in favour of the provincial government’s plans to increase penalties for impaired driving.
 
Wendell Waldron, a MADD community leader based in Regina, said he likes a proposal to instantly seize vehicles for three days the first time a driver is found with a blood alcohol level between .04 and .08.
 
“I’m going to have to say it’s not going to be enough for everything. But this is a good start. When you start taking people’s vehicles away, that’s a game-changer, if you will,” he said during a Tuesday appearance on the Brent Loucks show.

Waldron also voiced support for a plan to double the amount of time an offender would have to use an ignition interlock device on their vehicle.

“The interlock program has been a success in Saskatchewan. It’s been one of the good successes for impaired driving enforcement. To double it now, up to 10 years on your vehicle, I think that’s a very strong message,” he said.

Waldron said MADD still hopes to see more come from government on the legislative side.

That said, he stressed that laws alone aren’t enough, the culture around impaired driving has to change.

“There seems to be a feeling that (getting a DUI) is a rite of passage. So, the actual act of driving impaired is not really frowned upon as it would be in other places in Canada,” he said.