DRUNK DRIVING

Drunk driving is the act of operating or driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and or drugs to the degree that mental and motor skills are impaired. Holidays are some of the most dangerous times of the year on the road. Two to three times more people die in alcohol-related crashes on U.S. roads during Christmas and New Year’s than over comparable periods of time during the rest of the year, according to the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Holidays should be a time to spend with loved ones, not bury them.

Every single injury and death caused by drunk driving is totally preventable. Although the proportion of crashes that are alcohol-related has dropped dramatically in recent decades, there are still far too many such preventable accidents. Most drivers who have had something to drink have low blood alcohol content or concentration (BAC) and few are involved in fatal crashes. On the other hand, while only a few drivers have BACs higher than .15, a much higher proportion of those drivers have fatal crashes. Drunk driving, like most other social problems, resists simple solutions.

However, there are a number of actions, each of which can contribute toward a reduction of the problem just remember the three letter “D” “Don’t Drive Drunk“.