Cornwall man concerned about liquor containers along roadside
For Billy MacDonald, beer and liquor bottles on the side of the road are a common sight. He's an avid runner, and he said he's used to seeing bottles and cans littering the shoulder of the road almost every day.
He usually just runs by, but on Sunday, he decided to start counting. He said he counted 56 bottles and cans over the course of his 30 km run in the Brackley Beach area.
"I was surprised by the quantity and like, when I started to count, that's where I was surprised," said MacDonald.
'Elephant in the room'
MacDonald worries the liquor containers he sees so often on the side of the highway could be a byproduct of drinking and driving.
"It's the elephant in the room when it comes to drivers on P.E.I. There's a lot of impaired drivers, and there's a lot of active people out on the roads," said MacDonald.
MacDonald said he stopped cycling on P.E.I. roads earlier this year because he didn't feel safe. Now, he sticks to trails. And he said he was prompted to count the liquor containers he saw Sunday morning while out for a run after nearly being hit by a truck that veered onto the shoulder of the road.
After taking photos of the bottles he saw on his run, he said he made a post on Facebook "out of frustration." His post has been shared more than 200 times.
Not alone
The number of impaired driving convictions on P.E.I. has actually decreased each year for the last five years. But MacDonald is not alone in noticing — and being concerned about — roadside bottles.
The Prince Edward Island Women's Institute does a roadside cleanup every spring. Executive director Ellen MacPhail said she's noticed a high number of liquor bottles and beer cans among the trash the group collects.
"It's at alarming rates," said MacPhail. "Every year it is an issue."
Creating public awareness
MacDonald said he doesn't think simply warning against impaired driving will work.
While he thinks infrastructure could be improved to make roads safer — for example, creating larger shoulders on highways — he said in the short term, he thinks it's up to individuals to protect their own safety.
"I think a lot of people can make better decisions about where to be active," said MacDonald. He said he hoped his Facebook post would create more public awareness about possible dangers.
He said he'll continue to be vigilant when out running, and stick to biking on trails.
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