SGI launches "hard-hitting and heartbreaking" campaign against impaired driving

Craig Stevenson says he will always remember the moment he found out his 17-year-old son was killed by an impaired driver.

"You really can't put words to what you feel," he said.

Now Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) is trying to prevent other families from experiencing something similar.

SGI says a new advertising campaign, launched Monday, is "hard-hitting and heartbreaking" and includes testimonials from first responders and medical professionals in Saskatchewan who have witnessed the aftermath of impaired driving.

It will also include a 60-second dramatization of the moment a family is "torn apart by impaired driving."

Craig and Bonny Stevenson's son Quinn was killed by an impaired driver in 2013 at an intersection in Saskatoon.

Craig says they got the news after hearing a loud knock on the door by a police officer early in the morning.

"The officer there was asking Bonny to come downstairs and I knew right away something wasn't good," he told CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning.

After the officer verified who they were, Craig says he told them that their son had died in a serious collision.

"There's a lot of despair. You don't know what to think," he said.

Through SGI's new campaign, Craig hopes people understand the effects impaired driving can have on families.

"We just hope people understand the pain it causes."

Craig says SGI did an excellent job of keying in on what families go through, saying he believes the campaign will be effective in reducing impaired driving.

"I think this will just further make Saskatchewan a safer place," he said.

- With files from CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning