Operation Red Nose is a confidential designated-driving service. A team of road volunteers picks you up and drives you home safely in your own vehicle – anywhere in the City of Prince George, for anyone who does not feel fit to drive, providing the vehicle is licensed and insured in BC.
Rotary Club of Prince George – Nechako
The Rotary Club of Prince George – Nechako is the local host organization for Operation Red Nose. Dedicated to community service, our members work to address the needs of our community, with a particular emphasis on youth and seniors.
Donations and sponsorships raised during Operation Red Nose go directly to youth programs and amateur sport. Over the years that funding has supported a long list of local organizations, including:
- Pathfinders
- Scouts
Hart Highlands Winter Club – Ski School- FBC Youth Group – ski program
Engage Sport North – Try It events- Youth Around Prince George
YMCA
PARTY Program – Prevent Alcohol & Risk-Related Trauma in Youth
Harwin Elementary School swim program
Kelly Road girls’ basketball
Rotaract- PG Midget Knights basketball
AiMHi Children’s Lifestyle Program
Boys’ and girls’ PGYSA soccer teams
PG Blizzard Speed Skating Club
RCMP Victim Services for Youth
Rotary Youth Exchange Program
DARE Program- Raise A Reader
Canadian Ski Patrol – Youth Safe Ski Program
Rotary dictionaries for local elementary school students- PG Youth Soccer
PG Spruce Kings hockey- PG Safe Attitudes & Action Society
Did you know?
Some background on Operation Red Nose, and a few sobering numbers from various sources.
- 1984Founded in Quebec by Dr. Jean-Marie De Koninck, and first run by Laval University’s Rouge et Or swim team with the support of radio station CHRC and the Quebec City police.
- 4 countriesOperation Red Nose now runs in several countries, including Canada, the United States, Switzerland and Portugal.
- Red nosesThe name first belonged to a Canadian military operation. It was chosen for the “red noses” volunteers get out in the cold on long winter nights.
of alcohol-related crashes happen between 9 pm and 3 am, the same hours our teams are on the road. Most of them (57%) happen on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
Impaired driving in Canada
- 8%of Canadians drink and drive
- 80%of people who drink and drive are with friends or family when they do
- 64,000people injured each year in alcohol- and drug-related crashes
- 55%of the 2,200+ car crash deaths each year involve impaired driving
- 28%of crash deaths involve alcohol, and it is the major cause of 13%
- 7.5MCanadians have a family member or close friend who was the victim of a drinking-and-driving crash; 5.4M know someone who caused one
- 65people killed every year in BC in crashes involving drinking and driving
- 47%of impaired drivers in BC crashes are aged 19 to 35, and 69% are men
The law in BC
BC has the toughest drinking-and-driving laws in Canada. If you drink and drive you can count on penalties – and time off the road.
- 0.08blood alcohol content: the limit for criminal charges in Canada
- $1,000minimum fine for driving at 0.08
- $2,000fine at 0.16 or higher, and prison time for repeat offenders
The consequences reach far beyond the death toll: injuries, medical costs, fines, imprisonment and lost employment affect individuals and families for years. It takes one phone call to avoid all of it.
