The message in the bottle

Awhile back I wrote about all the drownings, accidents and the lack of safe drinking, boating and driving habits in Muskoka. We are all responsible. We have to convince young and old to respect marine, snowmobile and traffic laws regarding speed on water and highways.

On a beautiful summer day in Muskoka, a horrible tragedy impacted all of us. As a result, to make something good come of this, there is a Facebook group, and a website devoted to telling the message we get from too many stories about too many young people.

Click on the logo at left to visit The Message in the Bottle website and view the other videos. Sad documentaries to the pain that happens after you lose your son in a highly preventable accident.

We must bring home the idea that we are ALL responsible to ensure that our roads are safe: those who drink, speed, drive recklessly, their parents & friends who condone their behaviour, servers, bar owners, and the MTO that does not suspend those with violations. As long as the bottom line is profit, we will not be protected by those who continue to drink and drive.

The problem with these charges is that the servers, trained in Smart Serve to withhold alcohol after patrons have had enough, must follow the policies of their managers and club owners. A club manager in Toronto explained that those who are told they are cut off can become violent and he has been assaulted by such patrons. It has to be club policy to support the servers, often young people trying to earn a living, or paying their way through university. The onus must be on a club: managers and owners, to follow through.

But what can we do to prevent these things from happening? I think we must face the fact that we are all responsible: drivers and boaters, family, friends, servers, bar owners, goverment agencies.

• those who drink and drive
  
• those who drive too fast or too slow
• those who drive dangerously or aggressively, and consider themselves the most important person on the road
  
• families or friends who fail to prevent bad drivers from getting behind the wheel or going on the water (including: drunks, seniors with dementia, aggressive drivers or snowmobilers, reckless boaters, drivers who speed in poor driving conditions)
  
• those who serve alcohol to those who have had too much and do nothing about it
  
• the Ministry of Transportation that does not rescind licences of those who have numerous traffic violations, especially on a G1 or 2

On July 3rd, 2008 in Muskoka, Ontario three young men (Cory Mintz, 20, Tyler Mulcahy, 20 and Kourosh Totonchian, 19) died in a car accident that involved alcohol. This video shows the mom and sister of Corrie Mintz visiting the sit where the death occurred. It is a powerful message.



Visiting the Site from The Message In The Bottle on Vimeo.