NDACC starts campaign against drunk driving
It’s as common a Christmas staple as ham and turkey…but while holiday drinking is here to stay, drunk driving need not be tolerated. Patrick Jones has more.
Patrick Jones, Reporting
Starting on Tuesday morning, personnel from the National Drug Abuse Control Council will hit the streets in Belize City with a special holiday message for the motoring public: Alcohol and cars don’t mix. NDACC’s Public Education officer, Karen Bodden, says the annual think before you drink campaign is especially important during the next few weeks.
Karen Bodden, Public Education Officer, NDACC
“First, it is to call people to think about the holidays, especially if they plan on drinking. We want them to remember that drinking takes responsibility. It means being responsible not only for yourself, but for others because this year alone we have seen quite a number of road traffic accidents that were associated with drunken driving. So it’s a reminder to motorists, first of all for them to start thinking a little bit more seriously about the consequences of alcohol.”
Bodden says the Council’s concern regarding young people is an uphill battle since most people do not think of alcohol as a drug.
Karen Bodden
“Many people will not say that. They will say to you I don’t take drugs, I only drink, but alcohol is a drug and it is a deadly one.”
And to reinforce that message, NDACC personnel will be out in full force distributing the information pamphlets to drivers at the roundabout by Belcan Bridge and on Regent Street in front of the Commercial Centre.
Karen Bodden
“Every year, in addition to distributing our “think before you drink” flyers, which is actually a flyer that grabs your attention because very few words but the pictures that we have there says a lot. You know they like to say that a picture is worth a thousand words and so we try to do that. We try to equate drinking and driving with death. And so people can right away look at the little flyers and say I need to take care, I am in the drivers seat. At the back we also give advice.”
Bodden says the objective is not to tell adults that they can’t drink, but that if they do the last place they should be is the driver’s seat. The organisation’s best advice is to identify a designated driver, catch a cab, or have a friend drop you off at your destination. But does this advice really work?
Karen Bodden
“That question is asked every year at this time and every year at this time I am able to say yes it does.”
Patrick Jones, for News 5.
