The month of December is usually spent traveling to and from family members’ houses, attending various holiday gatherings and celebrating the holidays with laughter and cheer. Unfortunately, during this month drunk driving skyrockets. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2017 10,874 people were killed in preventable drunk driving crashes, and almost one in five children (14 and younger) killed in traffic crashes last year were killed due to drunk-driving. 54% of the time, it was the child’s own driver who was drunk (NHTSA). In December 2017 alone, there were 885 deaths due to drunk driving crashes. The holidays are meant to be a special time, but they can be quickly ruined by driving under the influence. If you are caught drunk-driving, there are severe penalties that could cost and average of $10,000 in attorney fees, insurance rates, missed work and could even result in jail time.
Let’s work together to protect one another and significantly lower the number of deaths due to drunk driving this year! Parties are pre-planned, so you should also pre-plan your ride home! If you plan to drink, make sure you have a designated sober driver or plan to call a ride share service (like Uber or Lyft) to take you home. If you agree to be the designated driver, take it seriously and don’t drink! If someone you are with has too much to drink, don’t let them drive. Offer them a ride or a place to stay for the night.
The Vernon ROCKS Coalition hopes you have a great holiday season and encourages you to celebrate safely!
