Heather Brothers clutches a photo of her sister Jocelyn Elberson, November 24th is always a tough day for her family, it would have been Jocelyn’s 28th birthday.
“My mother and aunt witnessed my sister fly 135-feet in the air over their heads to where she landed,” says Brothers.
The young Buffalo-native says she is still filled with sadness and anxiety when she thinks of the split second her sister was killed. Elberson was hit by a drunk driver on November 11, 2012. She, along with her mother and aunt, were walking on a pathway in Buffalo when a man lost control of his motorcycle, swerved onto the walking path, killing Elberson and another 81-year old woman.
The man, who killed them was a repeat drunk driver, it was his seventh impaired driving offence.
“It’s hard to understand why people think it is okay,” says Brothers, “they don’t think about others they’re just thinking of themselves.”
Brothers has now joined Ontario Provincial Police and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada in hopes of getting the message out that impaired driving kills.
OPP today launched this season’s ‘Festive Ride Campaign’, increasing RIDE programs in hopes of stopping impaired drivers in their tracks.
“If you’re out there, we’ll find you and the ramifications are severe,” says OPP Chief Superintendent Daniel Redmond, “we just want to prevent tragedies this time of year.”
OPP say they will be out in full force around the clock. Impaired drivers, they say, don’t just come out at night, “we’ve had arrests all times throughout the day. Sometimes it’s leftovers from the night before, sometimes it’s just people who drink all the time,” says OPP Constable Rheal Levac.
Police say the good news is it seems drivers are getting the message. Incidents of impaired driving due to alcohol are on the decline in Canada. Still, Redmond says one death is too many, “we still have too many deaths on our highways directly related to people drinking and driving.”
The newer problem emerging is driving while impaired by drugs. No matter what the impairment, Redmond says it is a community problem, “if you have a friend, if you have a loved one, someone who you think is going to drink and drive, you should stop them, talk to them and tell them not only the issue that’s going to be with them, but perhaps killing someone else.”
As for Brothers, she’s now working with MADD in hopes of setting up a Victims Impact Panel in Ottawa. It’s a court-ordered program already in the United States, which would force those convicted of impaired driving to attend a talk held by victims of drunk driving, “to share a story with impaired drivers and young drivers, to prevent more families from suffering the terrible loss that we have.”
Brothers won’t stop working to save more lives, “this is a way to let my sister’s life carry on.”
The ‘Festive Ride Campaign’ runs through the holiday season.
