LIVID! Podcast Ep 01: Why I'm LIVID! Let's Start Here

In the debut episode of LIVID (Learning, Insights, and Voices on Impaired Driving), host Amanda Bickell shares the devastating story that changed her life forever and sparked a call to action on impaired driving in Canada.This episode recounts how Amanda’s 22-year-old daughter, Abbey, was killed by an impaired driver in British Columbia. Through carefully documented, publicly available facts, Amanda explains how a driver travelling at extreme speed, running multiple red lights, fleeing a prior collision, and driving with a blood alcohol level roughly three times the legal limit, ended Abbey’s life in seconds. Abbey and her friend did nothing wrong. She was killed through no fault of her own.Beyond the timeline of the crash in Burnaby and Vancouver, this episode explores the long and painful aftermath: grief, rage, and the slow grind of the Canadian justice system. Amanda speaks candidly about what it means to be a “good victim,” the limitations, and the frustration of waiting years for accountability while an offender remains free.But this is not just a story of loss. It is a reckoning.Amanda questions why impaired driving, despite decades of education, enforcement, and awareness campaigns, remains the leading cause of criminal death in Canada. She asks why data is inconsistent, why court processes take so long, why sentences feel disconnected from harm, and why society continues to tolerate an entirely preventable crime. Drawing on her background in organizational wisdom and systems thinking, she reframes impaired driving as a systemic failure involving law, policy, culture, enforcement, and collective responsibility.This episode also introduces the heart of LIVID: moving from righteous anger to informed action. Amanda explains how the thoughts she could not express in court became the foundation for this podcast, a place to ask hard questions, challenge uncomfortable truths, and amplify voices that demand change. Future episodes will explore law, politics, alcohol culture, trauma, economics, enforcement, prevention, and what zero impaired driving deaths in Canada could actually look like.The episode is dedicated to Abbey, her courage, her voice, and her refusal to stay silent in the face of injustice. Through LIVID, Amanda carries that courage forward, determined to fight for a future where no family receives the knock at the door that shattered hers.Listener discretion advised: This episode contains discussions of impaired driving, traumatic loss, grief, and the justice system.If you care about road safety, criminal justice, victims’ rights, or preventing impaired driving in Canada, this episode is a powerful place to start.🔔 Subscribe to LIVID for upcoming episodes, expert interviews, case analysis, and updates as this journey continues.🌐 Learn more and explore references at www.lividpodcast.caReferences:College of Saint Benedict & Saint John’s University. Understanding Blood Alcohol Content (BAC). Retrieved Feb 21, 2026 fromhttps://www.csbsju.edu/well-being-center/health-promotion/alcohol-guide/understanding-blood-alcohol-content-bac/British Columbia Prosecution Service. Victim Impact Statement and Statement on Restitution (Information Guide).Retrieved Feb 26, 2026 fromhttps://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/law-crime-and-justice/criminal-justice/prosecution-service/information-sheets/victim-impact-statements/victim-impact-statement-guide.pdfGovernment of Canada, Department of Justicehttps://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/sidl-rlcfa/Royal Canadian Mounted Police. 2024–25 Departmental Planhttps://rcmp.ca/en/corporate-information/publications-and-manuals/2024-25-departmental-plan/full-report#t10matchpredictionStatistics Canadahttps://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv!recreate.action?pid=3510017701McCarthy, Niall. The Worst Countries in the World for Drunk Driving. Statista, August 16, 2016.https://www-statista-com.ezproxy.kpu.ca:2443/chart/5504/the-worst-countries-in-the-world-for-drunk-driving/