This Holiday Season, Plan Ahead to Avoid Impaired Driving
According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2010, more than 10,000 Americans died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes - one death every 48 minutes. That’s nearly one-third of all traffic-related deaths in the United States. Meanwhile, 17 percent of traffic deaths among children involved an alcohol-impaired driver. In half of those crashes, the young victim was riding in the vehicle with the alcohol-impaired driver. Drugs other than alcohol (e.g., marijuana and cocaine) are involved in about 18 percent of motor vehicle driver deaths.
Scheduled to coincide with the holiday season, December 2012 is National Impaired Driving Prevention Month. Whenever your social schedule involves alcohol, make plans so that you don’t have to drive after drinking. For example:
- Prior to any drinking, designate a non-drinking driver when with a group.
- Don’t let your friends drive impaired. Take their keys away.
- If you have been drinking, get a ride home or call a taxi.
- If you’re hosting a party where alcohol will be served, remind your guests to plan ahead and designate their sober driver; offer alcohol-free beverages; and make sure all guests leave with a sober driver.
We welcome your comments if you are 13 or older, and hope that our conversations here will be polite. You are responsible for the content of your comments.
We do not discriminate against any views, but may delete any of the following:
- violent, obscene, profane, hateful, or racist comments
- comments that threaten or harm the reputation of any person or organization
- advertisements or solicitations of any kind
- comments that suggest or encourage illegal activity
- multiple off-topic posts or repetitive posts that are copied and pasted
- personal information including, but not limited to, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, mailing addresses, or identification numbers
In short: be nice and add to the discussion. If you continually violate this policy, we may limit your ability to comment in the future. If you have any questions or comments about this policy, please e-mail us.
