After two years of forced confinement, the 2022-2023 holiday season marks the strong comeback of parties office and family reunions, which often involve traveling by car. A few days before Christmas, the time is chosen to remember that alcohol and driving do not mix.
“When you drink alcohol, your concentration and your vigilance are reduced, it increases the tunnel effect, explains our collaborator Bertrand Godin, driver and automobile instructor. You are more relaxed, but your analysis process is much slower. At 100 km/h, the time it takes a drunk driver to analyze and take action is as if he were driving at 200 km/h. If we react a second too late, a second is 28 m when we are driving at 100 km/h. And if you mix with the drugs, it just increases those conditions. »
The image evoked by the pilot is striking, because we are able to measure the consequences that this can entail. And that’s without counting the road conditions, which become more complicated with the arrival of snow.
In winter, the road conditions are changeable, alcohol affects the ability to properly focus attention on the right elements.
Bertrand Godin
“With the blowing snow, the high winds, the drop in visibility, even drivers who haven’t consumed fuel are not always aware of what the road can bring,” he adds. The car may not want to brake, or may not turn; while impaired, it’s an explosive mix. »
Progress
Although he recognizes that the situation has improved considerably since the 1980s, “there are still people who will fall through the cracks”, maintains the expert. This is why he continues to get involved, in particular by participating in the community action of Labatt, which is committed to encouraging responsible consumption by giving a boost to Opération Nez rouge – the brewery donates $5 per case. of Corona Sunbrew 0.0% sold in Metro grocery stores until December 28.
PHOTO STÉPHANE BERGERON, PROVIDED BY BERTRAND GODIN
According to Bertrand Godin, it is good to remember that a “designated driver is not the one who has consumed the least, it is the one who has not consumed at all”.
Bertrand Godin has already volunteered several times for Opération Nez rouge, which resumed its wanderings this year after two years disrupted by the pandemic. “In 2020, the Operation had to limit itself to a digital awareness campaign, whereas last year, only about twenty regions were represented, explains Marilyn Vigneault, Director of Communications for Operation Red Nose. This year, we are back to 50 participating regions, compared to 60 in 2019.”
Recruitment problem
During its first three weekends of activity, some 9,600 volunteers carried out 10,503 rides. “We are happy to be able to count on almost 10,000 volunteers, because an accompaniment is an accident avoided, supports Mme Vigneault. However, staff recruitment is Red Nose’s hobbyhorse. We put the bites double. We also recruited Mathieu Dufour as spokesperson, he is a former volunteer, it is close to his heart. And that allows us to resonate with the youngest, in particular by continuing to hammer home the message of preparing our trips well, of talking about it responsibly. »
In fact, Bertrand Godin was able to see firsthand how behaviors have changed over the years.
Thanks to what we are doing, awareness has entered the culture of some young people.
Bertrand Godin
“As a volunteer for Opération Nez rouge, I saw young people take the keys of all their friends, they were responsible for everyone leaving without drinking, or by calling Nez rouge if there were complications, supports our collaborater. Because it must be remembered that the designated driver is not the one who has consumed the least, it is the one who has not consumed at all. »