Blogs

The Outdoor Socializing Season Has Begun! I think the moment we can shed the winter coat and the snow melts; we begin to spend more time outside. We clean up the patio or deck, pull out the outdoor furniture and clean the BBQ. It’s time to socialize outdoors. Just take a deep breath of all […]

It’s All About Protection I grew up in an era when seat belts weren’t always used. But as time went on, they were used more and more and the shoulder strap also became the norm. I also grew up when helmets on bicycles were non-existent. Those too became normal for many people, including adults, not […]

It’s all about protection I grew up in an era when seat belts weren’t always used. But as time went on, they were used more and more and the shoulder strap also became the norm. I also grew up when helmets on bicycles were non-existent. Those too became normal for many people, including adults, not […]

Being A Good Role Model Starts Early As parents, we spend so much of our time raising our kids to do the right things. We instill good study habits in school, and we teach them manners and to be respectful of others. We set up rules they need to follow while living under our supervision […]

The Freedoms You Have   Being involved in driver training for decades, I would often ask new drivers of different ages why they wanted their driver’s licenses. A big “I want freedom” was the common answer. Yes, getting a driver’s license was indeed freedom, but not the kind of freedom they were thinking of. Yes, […]

Times Have Changed It seems we’re back to doing social activities in public again. Hanging out with friends can be a lot of fun. Perhaps even a few unplanned activities come to happen at the spur of the moment. Are you ready for it? Yes, you may have the money to go out, but is […]

Food Really Helps. For as long as I can remember, there have been suggestions people can use to help them safely deal with alcohol impairment. Other than not consuming alcohol at all, there are other ways to reduce the amount of alcohol entering your bloodstream. One such way is eating food before drinking. Now, it […]

Changing Habits Can Be A Good Thing.   We all have habits, some of which are good habits and some of which are bad habits. Whatever we do on a regular basis seems to turn into a habit. By definition, a habit is described as “a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that […]

After a Holiday Weekend of Fun.       Drinking and driving becomes a huge problem during many holiday weekends. With many people visiting family and friends over this period of time, drinking is a common factor for weekend gatherings and almost always, people tend to forget they are in no condition to get behind […]

Are you a team player?                                   Growing up, I was involved with a variety of team sports. I enjoyed playing them and today I still enjoy watching them and being part of them as much as possible. I especially […]

Regardless Of The Reason…   Growing up, my dad always said that if you didn’t have a good reason to do something, don’t do it. Pretty valuable statement if you ask me. It seemed to help me analyze what my options were before doing something. When it comes to consuming alcohol, do you have a […]

What Scares You? Speaking with a group of people recently about what scares them or what fears they may have. I did hear a variety of answers, but most never really surprised me. Some feared death, some feared financial hardship, and some feared loneliness. And yes, some feared spiders, but that may be for a […]

Even The Short Trips Matter. So, here’s the scenario. You were out drinking and having a good time. You only have a 5-minute drive home. You can even take the back streets so no one will really notice. It’s only a 5-minute drive, so no big deal, right? Wrong. It doesn’t take very long for […]

Gaining knowledge.       Let me get right to the point. The facts remain that drinking and driving can result in serious injuries, fatalities, damage to property and heavy legal consequences. Protecting yourself from the risks of drinking and driving is strongly to your advantage. But you probably already know this. I would have […]

Why wait until you’re pulled over to know your BRaC? I’m pretty sure no one really expects it, but it can seem intimidating being pulled over by the police in a RIDE (Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere) program or roadside stop/check program as the police are looking for impaired drivers. Some may even feel nervous although […]

Safety features. When we think of safety features in our vehicle, it’s usually seat belts and airbags that come to mind. We also have sensors on our modern vehicles which help to identify risks we face while driving to warn us of trouble. We need those safety features to help us survive our daily drive, […]

The Morning After.     You know how some mornings after a lot to drink the night before you may not be feeling just right? We tend to put that on the fact that it’s just a hangover. After all, it couldn’t be anything else, right? What is a hangover anyway?   A hangover essentially is […]

Are you part of the solution? Whenever you come across a problem, you automatically determine what kind of solution is required to solve this problem. We sometimes get frustrated with the problem, but we often feel better or relieved when the solution was put in place and we can continue along with our lives. Sound […]

Drinking and boating…the need to know.         Taking time out of our busy schedules to relax and enjoy ourselves is important in each of our lives. Alcohol seems to make it into our social activities, mostly planned but sometimes not planned ahead of time. As many of us realize, drinking and driving […]

Public intoxication is a thing, and not a good thing.       There are many things we do in the comfort of our own homes. It’s private and in many ways, it’s more comfortable. Socializing with family and friends is something many of us do. How hard we socialize is up to each individual, […]

Just the facts, please.     Teaching people to drive for over 34 years has taught me many things, most of which are good. I learned that giving out facts was a good thing and that hiding my students from the harsher facts was not in their best interest. Showing them news articles of what’s […]

We do have a choice     We’re very fortunate to have many choices in our lives. For the most part, we have a choice of where we live, where we want to go to school, where we would like to work, who our friends are, and how we want to spend our lives. When […]

The things we do, it’s no accident.       The purpose of my writing is to always get people to think. To think about themselves and their actions when behind the wheel.  Most of the actions someone takes behind the wheel was something they decided to do. It became a conscience decision. So, when […]

How reliable are you?     There really are things in our lives that we need to be reliable. It helps to give us peace of mind within our daily lives. We tend to rely on family, close friends and our co-workers to get us through tough times or even the daily grind. It’s really […]

The Art Of Gift Giving     If you really think about it, any time of the year is a time for gift giving. It doesn’t always have to be for special holidays, birthdays or anniversaries. It could be just what the person needs to lift their spirits over a tough time. I’m sure we’ve […]

Friends helping friends.       As long as I can remember, impaired driving has been brought to the attention of so many people in a formal educational setting. We learned growing up that not only was impaired driving frowned upon, but it is also illegal and dangerous. It would cost so many lives each […]

The Truth About Hangovers.   Taking the opportunity to enjoy time spent with family and friends may mean enjoying a few alcoholic drinks. Sometimes, that one drink may lead to one more, two more, or more. The responsible person knows they need to head home in a safe and legal manner. And many do, but […]

Are There Health Benefits in Wine? It’s often said that we should always be concerned regarding our health. Exercise and healthy eating should always be on our minds. It’s also been said that drinking wine can be healthy for many people. Who knew! However, there are a few things we should know before we overindulge […]

It’s Time For “The Talk”       It’s time for that talk with your teens. The talk is often dreaded by teens and parents alike. No, it’s not the talk you may be thinking about. I’m referring to the talk about drinking and driving. It truly is a talk parents need to have with their […]

Breathalyzers Are the New Normal   The more we continue to do things, the more they become a habit. We know that. Repetition is a big part of making something new into a habit. It becomes the “new normal”, so to speak. This is often the case when new driving laws come into place or […]

Sometimes We Need Reminders.     We’ll often write things down so we don’t forget what we need to do. Sometimes family members will remind us as well. It’s a good thing to have reminders every now and then. Road safety is a big part of having reminders given to us. We get so wrapped […]

Reflecting On The Past Sometimes, we need to reflect on the past. It doesn’t always have to happen at the start of the new calendar year, but that’s often when it happens. It can happen any time of the year. It can happen as a new season of the year takes place or after a […]

Nothing Justifies Impaired Driving.     Nothing can justify drunk driving. It is no longer socially acceptable or cool to drive after being heavily consumed with alcohol. Actually, it never was. Today, roughly 98% of the population denounces this type of action, but it still happens. It would be interesting to know why some drivers decide to […]

Drinking and Driving: Myth or Fact     How did we get to a point where we stand by what we believe? Was it based on the fact we get our beliefs from family or friends or do we research topics in order to get the facts? Getting facts broadens our minds and allows us […]

Breathalyzers Are the New Normal.   The more we continue to do things, the more they become a habit. We know that. Repetition is a big part of making something new into a habit. It becomes the “new normal”, so to speak. This is often the case when new driving laws come into place or […]

Reducing Risks at a House Party.     Going to a party? We all love a good party. Everyone’s laughing and having a good time. There are often a lot of food to snack on and plenty of drinks to be had by everyone. It’s a chance to meet up with old friends, possibly meet […]

Improving Your Company’s Social Image   It seems that companies are getting their employees back to their businesses again these days as the economy seems to be picking back up again. It’s gotten to the point where businesses are rewarding their employees for sticking it out with them by adding or increasing their social activities. […]

Expecting the Unexpected.   Sometimes things happen when you weren’t expecting them. You try to be careful yet the unexpected can happen. This was recently the case for my daughter who happened to be driving alone recently. She came across a RIDE program and something unexpected happened. Something she never thought would happen to her. […]

Males and Females Versus Alcohol. Regardless of the reason people drink alcohol, there’s no question it can have an effect on us in ways we may not fully understand. Having the occasional alcoholic drink usually does not affect us the same way as someone who may drink the same amount. With that in mind, does […]

Back to Business at Social Functions     We’ve spent so much time inside our homes, staying to ourselves as of late that getting back out socializing with others – live and in person – can seem foreign to some of us. Being out in public at social events can become exciting and fun since […]

Enjoy the barbeque, however…     It’s no secret when the weather warms up, outdoor socializing ramps up. Having the backyard barbeque is something so many people indulge in over the spring, summer and even fall months. It’s such a great way to unwind after a busy week of work or school. But where do […]

How We feel is Not Really How We Feel     Generally speaking, we often know how we feel, although it may be difficult to express it clearly. We often come across someone who claims to know how we feel. You know what I mean. You explain to someone what’s happening and they say “I […]

Failing to plan is planning to fail.   In a perfect world, we would have the ability to go back in time after we either made a decision we later regretted. We all make mistakes, but if we could limit the mistakes to something less important or less serious, all would be good. But that’s […]

Excuses Never Work. Without polling the entire population, I’m certain there’s a high majority of people who have made up excuses every now and then as to why they did something which, in many eyes, was not ideal. We do this as excuses often placed the blame on something or someone other than you. The […]

Virtual Drinking Although we’re currently in a pandemic, it hasn’t stopped family and friends from socializing – virtually. Getting together to share a laugh, a cry or a story still seems to happen, even though we can’t always get together in the flesh. This togetherness is good for our mental wellbeing and to keep us […]

After a Holiday Weekend of Fun.   Drinking and driving becomes a huge problem during many holiday weekends. With many people visiting family and friends over this period of time, drinking is a common factor for weekend gatherings and almost always, people tend to forget they are in no condition to get behind the wheel […]

Young Person Impairment   There’s an old saying; “it’s tougher to argue with yourself than it is with anyone else.” We tend to do what we believe in, not always what we’ve been told. The best way to have someone believe in something is to experiment it themselves and make their own opinion on it. […]

The Cost Trying to find something to do that doesn’t cost much can be tricky sometimes. Even socializing with friends or family can be costly when it doesn’t really need to be. As a young person, I had friends who would not venture out with us unless they had a minimum amount of money on […]

  It’s not you it’s me   Remember the times in your life when a disagreement would happen between you and someone else. Perhaps you may remember someone saying “it’s not you, it’s me”? Sometimes that really was the case, but other times it was not. When it comes to impairment, sometimes it can actually […]

Creekside Estate Winery   If you’re an Ontario red wine fan you have most likely heard of Creekside, who have made a name for themselves for a blend of red grapes called “Laura’s Red” it’s as much a staple and as iconic in Ontario winemaking as Trius’s Red … and as consistently good. But Creekside […]

How Much Over the years I’ve often heard people saying after consuming alcohol, “it’s ok, I’ve only had a few.” A few is still a few too many if they plan to drive. And really, how much is a few anyway? It’s no secret that any amount of alcohol you drink can affect you in […]

For those who decide to drink and then drive, they often confuse themselves with their condition. Unfortunately, many people make the mistake after drinking to say; “they aren’t drunk” and continue to get into their vehicle and drive away. You don’t have to be drunk to have a negative effect on you and society because […]

Peer pressure is something many of us faced while growing up. It’s mostly related to young kids and teens and feeling the pressure to do something they never really wanted to do. The little voice inside their head would often tell them it was wrong, dangerous or they were just afraid to do it. However, […]