“During the holidays, someone is always missing from the table. We experience happy moments, I am a grandmother today, but our joy is never complete. It is always marked by sadness. »
Published at 2:17 am. Updated at 5:00 am.
The one whose absence is so cruelly felt is Thomas, the son of Odette Lachance, “my eternal teenager who will always be 17,” she notes in an interview.
In March 2018, he was fatally struck by a 29-year-old driver after drinking 8 to 10 beers at a bar.
In court, he apologized to Thomas' family and assured that he would have preferred to die rather than have the teenager's death on his conscience.
After describing him as a man from a good family who has a job and is an asset to society, the judge sentenced him to three years in prison and five years without a driver's license.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESS
Portrait of Thomas
Odette Lachance holds no grudge against this young man. “I clearly saw that he was remorseful. “Even if he hadn't been in prison, it wouldn't have bothered me,” she says, knowing that his real punishment is to have this death constantly on his conscience. Never.
Very quickly, Ms. Lachance began holding conferences for adults in the criminal justice system – including repeat DUI offenders – and going into schools to raise awareness among young people about the importance of responsible driving. “We talk about alcohol, but also about not using your cell phone while driving.” »
“Sometimes I hear from children that they are afraid to get in the car with their parents. Some also told me that they tell their father or mother not to answer the phone from the back seat,” she says.
The idea, she explains, is not to demonize alcohol, she emphasizes, but to think about how we get home before a party.
You should think about it before the party while you still have judgment.
Odette Lachance
She still notes today people's great reluctance to intervene in front of people they know to be drunk or to “report a neighbor who takes his car even though his driver's license has been revoked.”
“We often imagine that the worst thing is losing your driver’s license. But that's not the worst thing. The worst thing is killing someone or losing a loved one. We never recover from that,” Ms. Lachance recalls.
Alcohol is involved in 95 deaths and 225 serious accidents per year
According to accident victim data from the Society of Quebec Automotive Insurance (SAAQ), between 2012 and 2021, an average of 26% of fatalities (95) and 15% (225) of serious injuries were a contributing factor each year.
“Driving under the influence remains a leading cause of accidents in Quebec,” notes Sophie Roy, public relations officer for the SAAQ.
She points out that “85% of people arrested while intoxicated are initially arrested.” [infraction] “.
In 2021, 8,291 people had their driver's license revoked immediately after an alcohol-related offense. In 2012, 17,054 people suffered the same fate.
Operation Red Nose, “a brilliant model”
Operation Red Nose, whose model was adopted in six provinces, in Switzerland but also in France and Portugal, has undoubtedly contributed to reducing road deaths during the holidays.
Since its founding in 1984, Red Nose has provided 2.4 million rides across the country.
“It's a brilliant model that did harm reduction before its time, without moral judgment about alcohol,” points out Louise Nadeau, professor emeritus of the psychology department at the University of Montreal, who served on the board of Éduc' for 27 years. Alcohol.
On the other hand, Ms. Nadeau questions the numbers that suggest few impaired drivers are repeat offenders. In his opinion, this is mainly because they were never intercepted by a police roadblock and they were lucky not to have an accident.
Ask older people in particular whether they have ever been affected by a roadblock. Probably not. The number of these dams is ridiculously small.
Louise Nadeau, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychology at the University of Montreal
But for those who are drunk while driving and cause injury or death, she reminds that “the criminal code is not at all lenient.”
Marie Claude Ouimet, a professor at the University of Sherbrooke's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, notes that studies show that “the rate of fatal collisions begins to increase at 0.02.”
Serious accidents happen not only to those who spend the evening in bars, she remembers, “but also to those who start drinking in the afternoon while cooking and go to the supermarket when they realize they are missing cumin.”
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One in four fatal accidents is due to drunk driving.
Source: Quebec Automobile Insurance Company