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2 Friday, December 2, 2016brooklintowncrier.com Festive RIDE Results - Week Two DRPS completed its second week of the Festive R.I.D.E program, stopping more than 2,400 vehicles and charging 27 drivers with drinking and driving offences. Durham Regional Officers conducted RIDE checks in Ajax, Pickering, Whitby, Oshawa, Port Perry, Uxbridge and Clarington with the following totals (the numbers in brackets reflect 2015 second week totals for comparison): 2,493 (1,795) Vehicles stopped by R.I.D.E. 104 (125) People given Roadside Breath Tests 23 (18) People received "3 Day Suspensions" for registering a "WARN" 0 (3) Novice Driver received a 24hr Licence Suspension 27 (21) People were charged with Drinking and Driving Offences 38 (30) Criminal Code Charges 4 (8) G1 G2 / Young Driver Licence Holder Breaches of No Alcohol Condition 39 (56) Charged with various Highway Traffic Act offences 1 (2) Drug Offences After the second week, the Festive RIDE team has charged a total of 46 motorists for drinking and driving offences. Last year at the same time, 39 had been charged. Another 42 motorists have registered a WARN on a roadside screening device and had their driver's licence suspended for 3 days. Last year at the same time, 39 driver's had their licence suspended for registering a WARN. A complete list of those charged with Impaired/Exceed will be posted on our website at www.drps.ca under Hot Topics. Note: Under the Ontario Highway Traffic Act, anyone charged with a drinking and driving criminal offence will have his or her driver's licence suspended for 90 days and their vehicle impounded automatically for 7 days. "Keep Everyone Safe: Don't Drink and Drive" Less than Half the Picture By Richard Bercuson don't do it Warning: This column contains descriptions of events some readers may find too graphic. Gerry was a strong fellow and a fine athlete. I tried to stay clear of him in classes like karate and wrestling, where engagement was expected. It mostly didn't work. One evening, five of us piled into my car for a toodle into downtown for the usual: beer, music, beer, people, fun, and beer. Everyone had already downed a few. I had one. Still paranoid, even five years later. One beer before driving and that was it - in the 70s! Gerry climbed into the back seat behind me. Not good. I turned and asked for someone to please distract him while I drove. He was cackling. It was the beer. I started the engine and his paws wrapped around my head, covering my eyes. I smelled it. Geez, how many did he have? I pulled them down but he was stronger. C'mon, Rich, let's get going! He was slurring but coherent. C'mon Rich! He let up a bit. I drove a block and again his hands slapped onto my face. We were in Pine Avenue traffic across from the campus. The others in the back pulled on him and implored him to let Rich see the road. It was a one way and I figured we couldn't be hit head on because there was no other side. But there were parked cars and an intersection coming up. His hands again found my face, mostly blocking my vision but once also covering my nose and mouth. I was getting angry. Never drive angry, my driving instructor said years before. Or drunk, he added. The Montreal City Motor League instructor had shown us a 16 mm film he got from the police of bodies removed from wrecks. One, a teen like me, was lifeless, folded in half under a vehicle. Don't drive angry or drunk, he commanded. But I was angry - and Gerry was plastered. The briefest of flashes, to five years earlier. All six squeezed into John's Beetle. If I'd been there, as I was supposed to be, we could've split the load into two cars. But, no. Marty didn't call me when the game I was coaching was done. I'd promised him the night before I'd go straight over after. He doesn't call because the Beetle, crammed with the dinner party group, is already heading to Hemmingford. The drunk drove a big car. One headlight out. Two lane road. Around 10 pm on Nov. 23 so it's pitch dark. He crosses the median. They're all gone. Marty, Michael, John, Katye, Bridget, and Susan. He walks away. Two other friends from the dinner party go to the morgue while I sit at home waiting for Marty to call. The next morning, the Journal de Montreal publishes a front page photo of the scene. In the middle of the foreground lies Marty's penny loafer. I cried. And cried. I yelled at Gerry using an array of choice expletives. He got a bit upset but stopped. We wound up at this club where I had one more beer all night. Someone else drove Gerry home. On Monday in class, he apologized. He grows up and becomes a school vice-principal. I'm still growing up because I can't forget. Don't do it, I tell myself - and everyone I know. Just don't. "Proud to be a Brooklinite" Founded in 2000 and published 24 times per year. Editor, Richard Bercuson 613-769-8629 • editorofbtc@gmail.com The Brooklin Town Crier is locally owned and operated and is a publication of Appletree Graphic Design Inc. We accept advertising in good faith but do not endorse advertisers nor advertisements. All editorial submissions are subject to editing. For advertising information, contact: Rhonda at 905-442-9828 mulcahy42@rogers.com Next Issue: Friday, December 16, 2016 Deadline: Friday, December 9, 2016