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Alexa’s Story
Alexa Middelaer
4 ½ year-old Alexa Renée Middelaer was a child full of zeal with a tenacious spirit. With her blonde curls flowing, she plowed through life with purpose, determination and vigor. On a warm sunny day in May 2008, Alexa and her aunt were visiting “Horsey Love”, a very special equine friend that Alexa loved dearly and enjoyed feeding carrots and treats to.
It was on that day that little Alexa was run down by a vehicle driven by an individual suspected of being impaired at the time.
Her grandparents sustained emotional shock and physical injury, and her aunt suffered life threatening injuries.
Alexa lost her life as a result of that crash. Since then a Delta woman has been convicted and sentenced for impaired driving related to the death of Alexa Middelaer.
Alexa Middelaer Memorial Fund
As devastating as their loss has been, Alexa’s parents, Laurel and Michael Middelaer, are dedicated to keeping Alexa’s memory alive by doing all they can to spare other families from experiencing similar anguish.
That is why, in conjunction with the BCAA RSF, they established the Alexa Middelaer Memorial Fund. Its mandate is to reduce impaired-driving related injuries and deaths by 35 percent between 2008 and 2013 via public education, advocacy and by recognizing the efforts of those individuals who make an extraordinary contribution to fight against impaired driving.
Alexa’s Team
Laurel and Michael Middelaer (bottom centre) with the 2011 Lower Mainland members of Alexa’s Team
Alexa’s Team is a program that recognizes police officers who make an extra ordinary contribution in reducing the number of impaired drivers on the roads of B.C. communities. The BCAA Road Safety Foundation, the Middelaer family and the Insurance Corporation of BC (ICBC) are partners in Alexa’s Team to honour these officers.
To be nominated for Alexa’s Team, police officers must have taken at least 12 criminally impaired drivers off the road through a Criminal Charge Investigation or the Immediate Roadside Prohibition (IRP) administrative process.
Formed in 2008, Alexa’s Team has grown from 26 members to 355 R.C.M.P. and Municipal police officers from all corners of the province. Since 2008, Alexa’s Team members have processed 32,743 impaired driving charges or penalties against drivers in violation of B.C’s impaired driving laws.
The team is making a real impact by removing over 12,900 impaired drivers from B.C.’s roads. Fatalities from impaired driving in R.C.M.P. jurisdictions dropped by 40 per cent in 2011, from 125 in 2010 to an historic low of 74.
This year’s 355 Alexa’s Team members were recognized at a series of four events in late April and early May, 2012.
Alexa’s Bus
The Middelaers are now focused on the next phase of Alexa’s legacy: raising funds to buy at least one mobile alcohol testing unit for use by police forces across BC to help in the fight against impaired driving.
These units are customized buses or recreational vehicles with specially designed interiors that contain all the space and equipment required to collect evidence and process impaired drivers on site.
Similar vehicles are currently deployed in Washington State, Alberta and Ontario and give police the ability to pull over and process suspected impaired drivers quickly and efficiently.
