SGI teams up with Students Against Drinking and Driving (SADD) to support Driving Awareness Week

Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) is joining Students Against Drinking and Driving (SADD) Saskatchewan in supporting Impaired Driving Awareness Week, proclaimed by the provincial government for Mar. 5-9, 2012 in Saskatchewan.

The annual week, originally proclaimed in 1999, raises awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving. This is the Number 1 contributing factor in fatal collisions in Saskatchewan, the government insurer says.

Preliminary numbers show there were more than 1,200 collisions involving alcohol in 2011, resulting in more than 500 injuries and nearly 50 fatalities in the province.

“I commend SADD for their work educating people across the province on the dangers and risks involved with impaired driving,” SGI president and CEO Andrew Cartmell said in a press release. “The student leaders with SADD are excellent role models for their peers and in their communities.”

SADD has organized a speaker’s tour to spread this message across the province. This year, paramedic Ted Swan will talk to high school students about each gripping step of a trauma call.

Swan has 18 years of experience and has attended more than 16,000 ambulance calls.