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A6 - The Canadian Champion, Friday, November 14, 2008 Drunk driving has to stop July 20, 2007: A Milton mari has been charged with drurik driving after an elderly couple from Rockwood was killed last night wben their vehicle was pushed into the path of a GO train. July 30, 2008: Burlington OPP are crediting alert motorists with averting a tragedy following a higb-speed dangerous driving incident on the QEW late last week. Police say callers estimated a driver was exceeding 160 km/h on the Toronto-bound QEW.. A 61 -year-old Brampton man was cbarged witb impaired driving, refusing to provide breath samples and dangerous driving. September 14, 2008: A Burlington man faces six impaired driving-related charges after a truck dnv-ing the wrong direction on Hwy 403 struck a car heail-on early Friday momning, killing both of its occupants. its an al îoo familiar refrain. Dninking plus dniving cquals tragedy and jail time - that is, assuming you live. Amy Tiberia knows firs-band the toll impaired driving can have on innocent bystanders. In late 1994, a drunk driv- er caused an accident that bas left deep wounds - both physical and psycbological - on the Oakville family Amys son Raymond, three years old at the time of the crash, sustained a severe brain injury He was in a coma for 16 days. He had to figbt for bis life and tben relearo aIl that be knew Today, the teen stilI bas memory trouble and cant retain mucb information. "Prom the second it happened almost 14 years ago, the choice one person made to drink and drive forever altered the patb of our lives," said Raymond's mom. ht was appropriate tbat Amy and Raymond last week kicked off ibis year's Motber's Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Haltons Red Ribbon campaign in an effort to drive home the real damage impaired drivers inflict. Sadly, the message isn't getting tbrough. There bave already been more tban 200 dninking and drivrng-relaîed charges and four relaîed deaths in Halton ibis year. In ail of ast year tbere were fewer tban 200 alcohol-related charges, but eigbt deaths. As tbe holiday season approaches, the Tiberias are hope- fuI tbat Halton motorists will tie on a red ribbon to remind everyone that drinking and driving ruins the lives of ever- one involved. Readers Write E-mal your letters toeditonal@mlltencanadianchampion corn Support for Sophie's Run was amazing DEAR EDITOR: The Sophies Run Team would like to tbank, [rom the bottom of our hcarts, each and every person who made Sophies Rurf a success. ht was a total teamn effort. To the many family and fniends who supported us since the first day and joined us in New York and at the post receptions, thank you. To alI of our sponsors, including Gordon Food Service, Pub Concepts, Ned Devines, the Royal Canadian Legion (Uncle Alvin) and Hutchinson, Thompson, Henderson and Mott, thank you. Thanks to Eure Chief Brian Ellsworth and the Milton Fire Dcpartment, Halton Regional Police, Town of Milton, [lton Region and thc City of Burlington, the Miton Aduit Hockey League-Womcns for your con- tinued support of the mun. and to Val Bush and Ryan Denniston for the fundraisers while we were away Thank you to Kelly and Jeff Hanley for your support and to Kelly for mun- ning the first week with us. Ihanks to Julie Bernard for capturing thc *see THERE'S on page A7 Upfront Quit staling and ban cell phones while drivng already Cail it a blow agaixlst stupidity at a dan- geous level. Or at least it will be once the provincial government shifts out of neutral and officiaI- ly bans the use of cli phones and other hand-held devices while dniving. Passing a second reading late last month but since tabled for furher discussion and posberevision, the proposed law certainly isn't the solution to ahl our traffic ills. However, it's a move in the right direction., haveallrecntl inrodcedsuch restrictions - which are already in place in about 50 countries, including Australia, China anid France. Now it's time for Ontario to catch up. My only reservationf with the as-yet-to-be- implemented law is that it doesn't go far enougli. That's because as it stands, hands- free devices woe/t faUl under tie list of itemns that'll be restricted. In fact, North American car inanufacturers are already building such technologies irtto new vehicles in anticipation of widespread ba on electronic gadgets. f As far as l'u concerned, thati merely creates a lesser-of-two- - evils scenanio, seeing as the pri- mary objective of the proposed law isn't so much keeping drivers' hands on the wheel as minimizmng distractions. .I1may have my handsin the 10 and 2 position, but that dioesnt necessarily mean I'm completely focused on what lays ahead, behind or beside me. And undivided attention ont the road is particularly important in a growing commu- nity ike ours, where traffic woes continue to mount and the potential for accidents - fatal or otherwise - due to careless drivmng is on a sharp rise as well. With more than haif of those S polled in an RBC Insurance/Ipsos Reid survey last month admitting to using a cel - phone while driving, the law will no doubt be a source of much frustration once it's final- ly put into effect. But giveri that it's public safe- ty we're talking about here, con- venience simply isn't worthy of consîderation. Bottom lîne, when someone operates a celI phone or other device behind the wheel, theyre saying that driving doesn't require aIl of theïr attention. News flash, it does. While flot generally recognized as such, s» WE on page A7 The Canadian Champefon io' a prooad media spolnor faor: Ha ton Healthcare MILTON - SANTA 1NLCOMF ' - CLAUS Jingle Bell Fond PRD UNITED WAY CANADoA 0AY 0F MILTON 41HEN feOa,4e h k M Awards M ap ~1be (aîîabian (Cbampiorn M lon'sCommur y Newspaper ne 1860 555 Industrial Dr Milton, Ont. L9T 5EI 905-878-2341 Editorial Fax: 905-878-4943 Advertismng Fax: 905-876-2364 Classified:905-875-3300 Circulation: 905-878-5947 www.miltoncanadianchampion.com V.P. - Group Publisher Neil Oliver General Manager Davidl Harvey Editor in Chief JolI Davis Managing Editor Karen Miceli Advertising Director Debbi Koppejan Production Manager Tirn Colos Circulation Manager Charlene Hall Office Manager Sandy Pare The Canadian Champion, pubishe every Wednesday and Friday, is a division of Metroland Media Gmoup Ltd. - President lan Oliver. Adetsnoegoanoeedon the coedipmtai, ,in0ehe eeniofa typoaphcal esrirai poineofIthe advetng pa(e ocuied bi nhe enronennsitîen, togehls nain a eaonable alioanne forisigna trWl ni e cnarger] rint the balance nf île adveresnenerri oi le pad for ai the applcable raie Te penlishr eeesnthe rgni o caioeîna,,onz d eri ei rine CCAB Audited i itienfor exceHl e'I v O fa Ontario Commueity m a Newspapees Association Canadian Community C CNA Neenpapero Association SSubooban Newopapeîo u n _ of Amerina