The Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Transportation and Public Works, and Alex Poole, safety educator with the department, recently announced this year’s winners in the “Not Breaking the Rules Program.”
The program sees Mr. Poole travel to schools across PEI every year to deliver his hard-hitting message about impaired driving. In 1976 Mr. Poole was thrown from a high-speed vehicle while driving under the influence and has since been a D12 paraplegic. This year he travelled to elementary and junior high schools in western PEI. After his presentation he asked students to prepare their own messages about “not” breaking the rules when it comes to impaired driving. With the help of generous sponsors one student from each of the grades 5, 6, 7 and 8 were awarded prizes for their imaginative and heartfelt messages.
This year’s winners included Alycia Preece, a Grade 8 student from Amherst Cove School; Russel Desrocher, a Grade 5 student from Miscouche Elementary; Shenae Bourgeois, a Grade 6 student from Elm Street School; and Corbin Fraser, a Grade 7 student from M.E. Callaghan. The winners received either a new bike or a new iPod. Every school that participated also received a bike helmet.
“Alex Poole’s efforts to spread the word about the dangers of impaired driving are greatly appreciated by our department,” noted Minister Shea. “Mr. Poole’s message is heard loud and clear by students because his story is told first-hand.”
Minister Shea also recognized the sponsors whose generous donations helped the program succeed. They include JVI Provincial Transportation Safety Academy, ABC, Caron’s, Morell and Walsh’s Driving Schools, Shawn Ryan, Safe Drivers PEI, Hemphill Pontiac-Buick-Chevrolet-GMC, Kings County Chrysler, Capital Honda, KFC Restaurants, A&W, MacDonald’s and Dairy Queen in Charlottetown and Summerside.