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

Craig Stevenson says he will always remember themoment 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 toldCBCRadio's Saskatoon Morning.

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

• Sask. impaired driving deaths down 32% in 2017: SGI

• New impaired driving laws take effect September 1

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

It will also include a60-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.

• Man, 26, charged in car-crash death of Quinn Stevenson

• Family of teen killed by drunk driver offering safe rides home from weddings

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 said.

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.

Craig said he hopes SGI'snew campaign will save other families from theexperience.

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

Craig saidSGI did an excellent jobkeying in on what families go through.

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

Craig and Bonny were in Regina for the campaign launch Mondayalong with first responders, medical staff and dignitaries who have been affected by impaired driving.

"We know from the last campaigns that we've had that they're impactful, that it just brings that awareness to people,"said JoeHargrave, Minister responsible forSGI.

"We want them to keep thinking this affects real people, real people's lives, your life, your families lives," he said.

"Not only that, but also these first responders, their lives."

The province-wide campaign runs until the end of October and includes television, radio, theatre and online advertisements.

- With files from CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning