Designate a Sober Driver for the Holidays

The holidays are a time to celebrate with friends and family. But as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration warns, it’s also a time to make sure you keep yourself and your loved ones safe. Whether you’re at a family holiday gathering, a New Year’s Eve bash or driving around Hopatcong or Sparta with your little ones, many social activities will involve driving.

The NHTSA says the winter holiday season, between Dec. 26 and New Year’s Eve has one of the highest incidences of drunk driving fatalities.

• During the 2012 holiday season alone, 830 lives were lost in drunk driving crashes.
• Last year, deaths in crashes involving drunk drivers increased 4.6 percent, taking 10,322 lives compared to 9,865 in 2011.
  
• An average of one drunk-driving fatality occurred every 51 minutes in 2012.
  
• Buzzed driving can cost around $10,000 in fines, legal fees and increased insurance rates.

The agency is asking everyone with Internet capability to join the effort to spread the word. NHTSA has a Holiday Buzzed Driving Thunderclap page. By registering with this system, you automatically can share a message of support for safe driving via your Facebook or Twitter account on New Year’s Day 2014:

"I am celebrating #NYE2014 safely by planning ahead and designating a sober driver. #BuzzedDriving is Drunk Driving.http://thndr.it/1gBDKXl”