Fifty-one police officers from the communities across Vancouver Island were honoured recently by the BCAA Road Safety Foundation as members of Alexa鈥檚 Team 2010 in recognition for their diligence in removing impaired drivers from the roads of our community.

Membership on Alexa鈥檚 Team recognizes police officers, both RCMP and municipal police, who have forwarded to Crown a minimum of 10 full impaired driving charges and/or issued 90-day driving prohibitions under the new Immediate Roadside Prohibition sanctions.

In addition, these members have issued thousands of 24-hour,

three-day and seven-day driving prohibitions in 2010.

Besides five Campbell River-based RCMP officers, Consts. Norm Weihs, William McSeveney and Travis Draper of the North Island Traffic division were honoured.

Since Alexa鈥檚 Team was formed three years ago, the member officers have removed 18,810 drivers from the roads of B.C. whose ability to operate a motor vehicle safely was affected by alcohol or drugs.

Alexa鈥檚 Team was formed in remembrance of Alexa Ren茅e Middelaer, who lost her life in May 2008 at age four and a half after being run down by a vehicle driven by an impaired driver. Alexa鈥檚 aunt was standing with her at the side of the horse paddock at the time of the crash and continues to recover from life-threatening injuries.

A 56-year old woman from Delta has since been convicted of two counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm and death and two counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm and death.

鈥淎pproximately 150 people are killed each year in B.C. at the hands of impaired drivers.  Many more suffer the loss of their loved ones for the rest of their lives.鈥� stated Insp. Ted Emanuels, operations officer for the RCMP Lower Mainland District Traffic Services,

鈥淜nowing that impaired driving is the No. 1 cause of criminal death in B.C., knowing that on average two British Columbians die each week due to impaired driving, and knowing that this is how our four year old daughter was killed is almost unbelievable, and I am sure that everyone reading this would concur,鈥� stated Laurel Middelaer, the mother of four-year old Alexa.

鈥淭here are hundreds of families in B.C. that share our experience.  As a family we choose to look for solutions. We are working with others to make this province and this country safer.鈥�

The Middelaer family, along with the BCAA Road Safety Foundation and Surrey City Mayor Dianne Watts recently kicked of the Alexa鈥檚 Bus campaign with an initial goal of raising $250,000 to bring a mobile impaired driving testing unit to B.C.

Allan Lamb, executive director of the BCAA Road Safety Foundation, noted that significantly more people die in traffic crashes than as a result of all homicides and murders. Lamb also cited Transport Canada statistics that show impaired drivers cost the B.C. economy $1.6 billion per year, primarily health, police and court costs.

For more information about the BCAA Road Safety Foundation and how you can help fight impaired driving visit www.bcaatsf.ca.

鈥� BCAA Road Safety Foundation