April 8, 2002
Youth Traffic Safety
Question to Rich Coleman, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General
R. Lee: My question is to the Solicitor General. In recent weeks several young lives have been taken in tragic accidents involving street racing on the roads of British Columbia. Police, parents and communities are all struggling to find ways to get the message across to young people that speed does kill. Can the Solicitor General tell us what he believes is a possible solution to this serious problem?
Hon. R. Coleman: Having once again returned to my home community on Friday to find the lives of two young people whose family I know had been snuffed out by a serious car accident, and also knowing the other parties involved in the accident, I think we all can tell that the effect of the way young people handle motor vehicles at times is tragic, as is any accident or any loss to anyone. I don't think there's enough time in question period to actually give you the answer, hon. member, but we have to change behaviour. We need to do more education. We need to involve parents.
We've taken steps to have administrative suspensions on the side of the road. We as government are also looking at possibilities of seizing vehicles and other options that we can do on the enforcement side.
This is a huge community tragedy. This is the fourth time in five years that I've lost young people in my community, most of whom I've known. We have to get a handle on this by working with parents, educators and ourselves as legislators to find a long-term solution. Everyone is involved in this issue, and everyone must work together to find the long-term solutions.
