Laurel Middelaer is a team mom like many parents in B.C., but her team is an exclusive group of police officers and the game is impaired driving.
Alexa's Team is named after Middelaer's daughter who, in 2008, was killed when a vehicle driven by an impaired driver struck a parked car that launched into the four-year-old girl as she was feeding a treat to a horse in a paddock near her house in the Lower Mainland.
It is the influence of Alexa, the Middelaer family, and their legion of supporters in government and in uniform that has led to the changes in B.C.'s impaired driving consequences.
Middelaer was at Harwin elementary school this week, along with mayor Dan Rogers, BCAA Road Safety Foundation executive director Allan Lamb and B.C.'s Superintendent of Motor Vehicles Steve Martin. Together they announced some major results in the number of lives saved by these new laws.
"We have seen more than a 50 per cent decrease in [impaired driver-related] fatalities in the past year; that is amazing for us," she said.
Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Shirley Bond confirmed in a written statement that the average number of people killed in impairment-related crashes was 45 during the measurement period of October to February, but from October 2010 to February 2011 the number was 22.
"We were not expecting these results so soon or so big," said Martin, who delivered Bond's statement. "We had set a goal of a 35 per cent reduction by 2013. We have to see if this trend continues, but we are shocked at how strong the results have already been."
NORTH DISTRICT TEAM ALEXA UNVEILED
North District RCMP's Team Alexa was also unveiled for 2010, the police members in the region who laid at least 10 criminal impaired driving charges and at least 10 Immediate Roadside Prohibitions last year. There were 31 who meet or beat that standard, the highest being 77 for one officer.
"You directly help children and families stay safe and you have much to be proud of," Martin told the team.
"You are the superstars in your field... Well done," she said, praising the Alexa's Team police officers. "What we saw [the fatal crash] was no accident, it was a consequence...I know body count count is a crude way to measure results but this year already there are 22 fewer families that never got the call."
Middelaer said she and her family have turned their attention next to two key goals.
She will be pushing Canadian Parliament to impose minimum sentences for impaired drivers, citing "there is very, very light sentencing in case law and that needs to change."
The driver who killed Alexa was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and is currently free pending an appeal.
On the provincial front she is driving for a fleet of purple buses, each one decked out to be a combination public awareness mobile classroom to appear at public schools and events across B.C. and a fully operational impaired driving lab for police to use for roadside enforcement action.
Each bus will cost $250,000 to purchase and prepare. The provincial government has committed to pay the cost of operating the buses for each one purchased.
To learn more about the Back The Bus fundraising campaign visit www.alexasbus.com.
Alexa's Team 2010 from the RCMP's North District are:
Const. Matthew Waroway
Const. Scott Johnston
Const. Christopher Mosley
Const. Guillaume Pelletier
Const. Courtney Cross
Const. Tyler Cargill
Const. Paul Koester
Const. Rhonda Williams
Const. Michael Zinn
Const. Christopher Spiers
Const. Mike Bless
Const. Rober Dickson
Const. Brian Davis
Const. Michael Sabulsky
Const. Peter Crockford
Const. Colin Zwicker
Const. Darrin Sanderson
Const. Joshua Smith
Const. Timothy Paulmert
Const. Jason Spielman
Const. Gregory Jodoin
Const. Serge Bruneau
Const. Mark Bezzina
Const. Allan Erickson
Const. Derek Henderson
Const. Travis Reed
Const. Jason Gillis
Cpl. Mario Cloutier
Const. Ryan Arthur
Const. Greg Olson
Cpl. John Graham
