‘There does seem to be a comeback’: Huron-Bruce MADD fighting resurgence of impaired driving with 30th annual red ribbon campaign

As Huron-Bruce prepares for its 30th year of MADD RIDE programs, Scott Miller checks in with the woman who brought the campaign to the region.

Barb Rintoul has a very personal reason for being part of her 30^th Project Red Ribbon RIDE campaign to reduce impaired driving.

“MADD started here 30 years ago because my son was killed by a drunk driver,” said Rintoul.

16-year-old Kevin Rintoul was killed by an impaired driver in July 1994. Rintoul, and the Magee family, who lost their son in the same accident, started the Huron County chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), the year after their son’s sudden deaths.

Rintoul has been part of every Project Red Ribbon RIDE (reduce impaired driving everywhere) campaign launch since.

“When we first started the RIDE program, people would wonder why we would stop them,” she said. “Now they say, ‘thank you.’”

Following years of decline or flatlining, Huron County has seen a recent jump in impaired driving charges, from 65 in 2019 to 102 in 2021. During last year’s 238 RIDE checks in Huron County from November to December, 20 impaired driving charges were laid.

“There does seem to be a comeback, a different generation of young people. Also, it is now not just alcohol. 30 years ago, it was alcohol. Now unfortunately, it is a mixture of alcohol and drug impairment,” said Rintoul.

“’Unfortunately,’ is definitely the right word. It’s trending, as it has done over the past number of years. There’s unfortunately never a stop to it. That’s where we come in to try to be that stop,” said South Bruce OPP Const. Matthew Thorpe.

Organizations like MADD may never be as important as they are now, believes Rintoul, to try and drive home the message that impaired driving is a deadly mistake far too many drivers are still deciding to make.

“It is changing. It’s not just drinking and driving now. It’s drugs and alcohol. There are still DUIs. They are still happening,” said Ally Henry, from Huron-Bruce MADD.

“I do feel that the judges could sentence more. And maybe in that sentence, we need an education program for those drivers,” said Rintoul.

“Even though we ramp them up in the holiday season, we never stop through the year. A RIDE program this week resulted in two arrests up in Cargill, so they’re going to continue. They’re not going to stop,” said Thorpe.

You can learn more about 30 years of fighting impaired driving in Huron-Bruce by visiting the MADD Huron-Bruce website.