News
New campaign 911 signs will engage islanders in the effort to prevent impaired driving

May 24, 2023, Charlottetown, P.E.I. – New official road signs are being installed across the province encouraging the public to call 911 to report suspected impaired drivers, thanks to a new collaborative initiative by MADD Canada and the Government of Prince Edward Island.

MADD Canada’s Campaign 911 is a community mobilization program that encourages the public to help make roads safer by alerting police to suspected impaired drivers before potentially deadly crashes occur.

Now, MADD Canada and its local Chapters – MADD Central, MADD Charlottetown and Eastern PE, and MADD West Prince – are expanding the Campaign 911 message with:

• 30 Campaign 911 – Report Impaired Drivers road signs (10 per Chapter area);
• 75 Impaired Driver Caught Here lawn signs (25 per Chapter area) to mark locations where impaired drivers were detected and taken off the roads;
• 90 lamp post signs (30 per Chapter area) to raise awareness of the Campaign 911 message;
• 4 Campaign 911 car decal kits, which will be used to brand vehicles in MADD Canada’s Crashed Car community displays.

The project is being made possible with support and funding from the Government of Prince Edward Island, as well as partial funding through Public Safety Canada’s Drug Impaired Driving Contribution Agreement.

“It is great to see this campaign expanding throughout the province because it will improve safety on our roads and in our communities,” said PEI RCMP Cst. Stephen Duggan, who is a member of MADD Canada’s National Board of Directors. “The Campaign 911 message is a simple, yet powerful one. If you see a driver you suspect is impaired, call 911. The call you make could save a life.”

Sign installation is already underway, including one sign on westbound Route 2 towards Kensington, past Sherwood Road in Winsloe (Queens County) which was unveiled today by Cst. Stephen Duggan, Zack Bell MLA for Charlottetown-Winsloe, and PEI RCMP Criminal Operations Officer Kevin Lewis. (See photo.)

“Driving impaired is a dangerous and senseless crime, which is why campaigns such as this are so important – so that we can spread this message and keep our Island roads safe,” said the Government of PEI’s Deputy Premier, Minister of Justice and Public Safety and Attorney General Bloyce Thompson. “We are pleased to support Campaign 911 and continue our great partnership with MADD Canada to increase Islanders’ awareness to report impaired driving across our Province.”

MADD Canada launched its Campaign 911 program approximately 15 years ago to educate and empower the public to report suspected impaired drivers to police. At that time, many people did not feel they could call 911 to report suspected impaired drivers because they were not sure it was an emergency situation. Campaign 911 has changed perceptions by reinforcing the fact that impaired driving is indeed an emergency situation and 911 is the appropriate number to call.

In the last couple of years, MADD Canada Chapters around the country have also started other related initiatives, such as the Impaired Driver Caught Here signs, and Crashed Car displays. The goal of these initiatives is to remind people that impaired driving can happen anywhere, at any time, and often has devastating consequences.

These programs work. More and more, we are seeing reports of suspected impaired drivers being taken off the road thanks to public tips to police and 911.