Before you get the barbecue fired up and the beer and cider on ice in time for your B.C. Day long weekend festivities, put your car keys away in a safe place.
You don't want to tempt yourself into making one of those mid-party beer runs while you're still feeling the effects of exhausting the current supplies. And if you are having family and friends over to help you celebrate, have them do the same.
Make sure that when they head for home, they'll get there safely and alive - and without any embarrassing encounters with police manning a CounterAttack roadblock.
Because the police will be ut there, looking for opporunities to stop potential lcohol-related fatalities from happening.
Police are out there because, sadly, they have statistics in hand that indicate 36 people may be killed in the Lower Mainland in impairment-related crashes on this holiday weekend. That's been the average death toll on our highways and roadways from 2006 to 2010. In Burnaby alone, on average, three people are killed in impaired-related crashes each year. Contrary to popular misconceptions, summer time - especially around summer long weekends - is one of the worst times of year for drinking and driving, and related crashes causing death and injury.
Those police officers at the Counter- Attack barricades don't want to have to pull you over and charge you with impaired driving. They want everyone to enjoy their summer, have a great time, and make sure they plan ahead for a safe ride home by having a designated driver or another safe alternative. Call a taxi, take transit, use a shuttle service or call a sober friend.
What they really, really don't want to do is pull your broken body out of a mangled wreck - and have to tell your family that last night's party was your last.
