One Crash is too Many is a campaign aimed at bringing awareness, knowledge and heart to a cause punctured by sorrow, injury and bereavement. As a mother whose daughter died in a single vehicle accident, I applaud the efforts of this movement, where the main focus is on saving lives. The extensive impact of vehicle accidents shatters those who are involved; either directly or in some way, people are being altered, forever. The pledge needed to express change is within our own communities. To be aware of road conditions and adhere to the rules of the road is to avoid the anguish and immeasurable loss I live with continuallys.
Years of being immersed in the losses of injury victims, the losses arising because of crashes that were totally avoidable will wear on anyone. A personal loss to Paul and Terri Hergott in 2010 was the straw that led Paul to launch his One Crash is Too Many campaign.
In 2012 Paul joined forces with Brain Trust Canada and organized the first annual One Crash is Too Many gala event to raise awareness of the preventability of car crashes. Leaders in the local “car crash industry” took part, including Kelowna Fire Chief Jeff Carlisle, specialist doctor in physical rehabilitation, Dr. Stephen Vallentyne, RCMP member Cst. Mark Slade, ICBC rehabilitation manager Kim deVries, media personality Doris Janssen (now Bregolisse), and a local personal injury lawyer John Kennedy put their support behind the event to make it the success that it was.
The Wednesday following the third Sunday of November, i.e. November 21, 2012, was the first time the National Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, was commemorated in the interior of British Columbia, the event organized by Paul Hergott. Paul will also be organizing the next annual event will be on November 20, 2013. He will also be promoting the recognition of that important date elsewhere in British Columbia.
The second annual One Crash is Too Many gala event proceeded on April 20, 2013, this time with West Kelowna Fire Chief Wayne Schnitzler, Kelowna General Hospital Chief of Staff Dr. Michael Ertel, RCMP Cst. Sandy Fazan, media personality Phil Johnson, and local personal injury lawyer Stephen Turner.
Many of Paul’s weekly newspaper columns have road safety as their central theme. Check out the campaign website www.onecrashistoomany.com to see the scope of this campaign.