AMHERST, N.S.- To say Art Brown and Randy Thurber miss their friend is an understatement.
Last September, while helping a motorist change a tire near Memramcook, N.B., RCMP officer Const. Frank Deschenes was killed when he was struck by a vehicle. He was a member of the Defenders Motorcycle Club and his loss is still felt a year later.
“We think about him every day. Sometimes, it’s start hard to believe he’s gone. He was such a friend to all of us and we want to do something to honour his memory and remind people of Frankie’s Law,” Brown said.
On Sunday, members of the motorcycle club, made up of motorcycle enthusiasts from all walks of life, are planning a ride in Deschenes’ honour that will see the riders leave Amherst at 10 a.m., travel through Sackville and Dorchester, N.B. to Memramcook and a cul-de-sac that’s within sight of the location where Deschenes was killed.
After a short service to commemorate Deschenes’ legacy, the group will move back through Memramcook to the Trans-Canada Highway past the location of the accident to Scoudouc to Shediac, Port Elgin and then back into Nova Scotia through Tidnish Bridge and along Highway 366 toward Pugwash and then to Wentworth before ending back in Amherst.
The ride will be 250 kilometres to represent the 2,500 kilometre Iron But ride across Canada Deschenes had intended to complete this summer with Thurber and Brown.
To raise awareness toward the Move Over Law, Deschenes’ wife, Savannah, has been selling patches with the proceeds going to the War Amps of Canada. Brown said these patches will be on sale at the ride and they will also be accepting donations in support of her campaign.
“Frank didn’t only love the RCMP, he loved to ride,” Thurber said. “There were several aspects to Frank’s life. He was a dedicated police officer who would do anything to help someone in need. But, he also loved being on the road on his bike. It was a huge part of his life.
”We’ve known Frank since he joined the Defenders and in the time we got together to go riding all of us became incredible friends. We got close to him and it was a big loss to us. It still is. It’s still hard to talk about it.”
Both Brown and Thurber are hoping to make this annual event to continue his legacy.
Deschenes’ wife won’t be able to attend the ride since she will be in Regina for a ceremony in which her husband’s name will be added to the RCMP’s cenotaph for officers killed in the line of duty.
She has been actively campaigning to strengthen the law that requires motorists to slow down and move over to the far lane, if safe to do so, when approaching an emergency vehicle or tow truck pulled over to the side of the highway with its emergency lights engaged.
“We need to do more to educate people about the law because I don’t believe a lot of people know about it,” Deschenes told the Amherst News in March, when she appeared at the Nova Scotia legislature. “We don’t need a lot of signs, but we need them at key points such as where they enter the province and at off-ramps on the highways. The billboards will help because people definitely look at them.”
She said people need to know what they’re supposed to do when they come upon an emergency vehicle stopped at the side of the road with its emergency lights flashing. Along with signage, she would also like to see the law included in the driver handbook that new drivers use.
The law, passed in 2010, requires motorists approaching stopped emergency vehicles to slow to 60 km/h and pull over to the farthest lane if safe to do so. An earlier NDP bill proposed the same law apply to tow trucks stopped at the scene of a fire or accident with its lights flashing.
In April, the legislature designated Sept. 12 as First Responders Road Safety Awareness Day in honour of Deschenes and all first responders across the Province.
The province, however, has refused to go as far to add signage on the 100-series highways reminding motorists to move over and slow down.
Twitter: @ADNdarrell
