This week the Drumheller RCMP is working with students in the area to focus on safe habits behind the wheel. 

 October 19-25 is National Teen Driver Safety Week (NTDSW). This is an annual public awareness campaign aimed at reducing distracted, aggressive and impaired driving, the leading cause of preventable death and injuries among teens.

Staff Sergeant Grant MacDonald said the detachment will be working with students at DVSS and St. Anthony’s to look at safe driving habits.

Morrin School’s SADD Chapter is once again supporting the project.

“Teen fatalities behind the wheel are completely preventable,” says Katie Suntjens, Staff Advisor, and Morrin School SADD Chapter. “Through NTDSW and community initiatives like our recent Youth Traffic Safety Conference and our annual Speed Awareness Campaign in May, we are working to raise awareness of the devastating effect of distracted driving and encourage young drivers to focus on the road, not their phones.”

On Tuesday, October 20 the SADD chapter was promoting the #PracticeSafeText campaign during the lunch hour, which encourages others to take selfies in a photo booth to create awareness on social media regarding the issue of texting and driving. 

Not just teens have to be reminded of safe driving practices. Over the thanksgiving weekend, the RCMP participated in Operation Impact, a coast-to-coast traffic initiative sponsored by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.

Law enforcement agencies across Canada were out in force from October 9-12 with a focus on detecting impaired and distracted drivers, speeders and those not wearing seatbelts. The annual campaign takes place on the Thanksgiving Weekend, a time when the risk of collisions increases due to heavier traffic.

In the Drumheller area, Staff Sergeant MacDonald said the RCMP participated in three check stops over the holiday weekend. They pulled over 105 vehicles. From that, they laid two criminal code impaired charges, one three-day suspension. They issued 34 speeding tickets, 16 for seatbelt infractions, six distracted driving tickets, three tickets for liquor, one no insurance and 31 other tickets. They also issued some written warnings.

”We are certainly aware that in and around Drumheller distractive driving is a public safety concern, and given our geographical lay of the land being relatively flat with few trees, that people are going to test the speed limits on the highway,” he said. 

Drumheller once again proved it has abundant talent with a great showing last Friday night at the second annual contest.

Drumheller’s Got Talent is a showcase of the brightest up and coming stars. Last year’s winner Abby Fooks has gone on to record an EP, which will be released this month. She was at the contest to sing a four-song set.

Hers was not the only voice that rang out Friday night.  There were 10 finalists for the contest, who performed in front of a panel of judges that included Cam White, Marcel Augey, Carol Todor, Ryan Semchuk and Becky Neuman. 

In the end, it came down to three. Brooklyn Acorn had the third highest marks. Ashton Lal was in second and Rachel Graf took the top spot. For this, she won the ability to record three songs and have a single released on Drum FM. Second place won $400 and third place, $200.