[Martinez] CA — This time of year, with all the holiday parties and festivities, many party-goers will be drinking. If you’re celebrating with alcohol, Avoid the 25 has a message for you: Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over. Due to the increase in drunk-driving-related fatalities around the holidays each year, law enforcement agencies across the county will be out in force searching for impaired drivers from December 12 – January 1, 2015.
During the 21-day campaign, there are plans in place for DUI/Drivers license checkpoints, a multi-agency strike team, local roving anti-DUI saturation patrols, a DUI warrant/probation sweep and a DUI court sting targeting suspended drivers who were ordered by the judge not to drive. El Cerrito PD will be hosting a checkpoint on December 12, 2014.
The facts are grim: on average, about one-third of all crash fatalities in the US involve drunk driving. In December 2012, there were 830 people killed in crashes involving at least one driver or motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher. For all of 2012, more than 10,322 people are killed by drunk drivers in America, with 802 of those in California alone.
Some startling data from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration shows that during the holiday season in 2012, 40% of the drunk drivers involved in fatal crashes had at least one prior DUI on their record. And many offenders are young drivers: during that same holiday period 37% of the 21-24 year old drivers in fatal crashes were impaired.
Here are some tips to help keep the holidays safe and happy:
• If you will be drinking, do not plan on driving.
• Plan ahead; designate a sober driver before the drinking/partying begins.
• If you have been drinking and need a ride, you can call a taxi, a sober friend or family member or use public transportation.
• Remember, it is never safe to drink and drive: Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.
Avoid the 25 funding is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The Office of Traffic Safety is offering a free mobile app – DDVIP – aimed at thanking the sober designated driver with perks and free offers at area bars and restaurants.
