(Media release from the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety):
Keep the Christmas cheer from behind the steering wheel this year or risk spending the holidays in a jail cell. That is the message the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety delivered during their annual “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” Holiday Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention campaign kickoff Tuesday morning in Columbus.
GOHS is partnering with the Georgia Department of Public Safety, local sheriff’s offices, local police departments, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), AAA Georgia, and MADD Georgia to remind everyone that all drunk driving deaths are preventable because they are all caused by someone making the mistake to drive under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or both. Law enforcement and highway safety advocates want everyone who is including alcohol in their plans to always plan for a ride with a sober driver.
The Georgia State Patrol and local law enforcement agencies will be targeting drunk and drugged drivers during the Christmas and New Year holiday weekends. Georgia law enforcement maintains a year-round zero tolerance for drunk driving and will arrest any driver whose Blood-Alcohol Concentration (BAC) level is at or over the state’s legal limit of .08. No warnings will be given and no phone a family member or friend for a ride after a DUI stop.
“The goal for our law enforcement officers is to never have to arrest anyone for a DUI because that would mean everyone is making the right decision to never drive when they have been drinking,” Allen Poole, Director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. “Driving drunk is a selfish choice that needlessly endangers the lives of innocent people on the road and that is why state troopers and local law enforcement officers will be working to save lives of everyone traveling on our roads and highways by taking drunk and drugged drivers to jail.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 40 percent of the people killed in passenger vehicle crashes in Georgia during the Christmas Holidays from 2017 to 2021 involved a drunk driver and 75 percent of those persons killed in alcohol-involved passenger vehicle crashes during the Christmas holidays from 2017 to 2021 involved a driver whose BAC was twice the legal limit.
Nearly 60 percent of the persons killed in nighttime passenger vehicles crashes in Georgia during the Christmas holidays from 2017 to 2021 involved a drunk driver and 81 percent of those fatal alcohol-involved nighttime passenger vehicle crashes during the Christmas holidays in Georgia from 2017 to 2021 involved a driver whose BAC was twice the legal limit.
Federal crash data shows 1,013 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes in the United States in December of 2021 and almost half of the drivers involved in fatal crashes in the United States from midnight to three a.m., when most bars are closing, were drunk.
It is simply not worth the risk of a crash or an arrest to drive over the legal limit. NHTSA estimates the average DUI arrest can cost up to $10,000 in fines, court fees, attorney fees, and higher insurance premiums as well as costing someone their job if they are charged with DUI. A DUI conviction could also prevent someone from being hired.
“One of the main goals in the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign is to remind everyone of the many options available for a sober ride and we encourage anyone who has been drinking to find a ride with a sober family member or friend, cab, or ride-share service.” Roger Hayes, GOHS Law Enforcement Services Director said. “Planning ahead for a sober ride when alcohol is in the plans allows you to enjoy your celebration and makes sure that there is one less family that will have to spend the holiday season without a loved one who was killed in a drunk driving crash.”
One sober ride option Georgians will have this holiday season is a $20 credit courtesy of Lyft and the Governor’s Highway Safety Association. The credits will be available from 9:00 p.m. on Friday, December 22 through 6:00 a.m. on Monday, January 1.
Lyft account holders will be able to download only one credit and must use it in Georgia. Supplies are limited, available on a first come basis, and the credit must be used within two weeks.
Lyft account holders in Georgia can claim the credit by entering the code GAGOHS2023 in their app or can scan the QR Code.
Another option for those who do not plan ahead for a sober ride is the AAA’s Tow-To-Go program, which will offer free tows and rides for only the operator of the vehicle for up to ten miles from 6:00 p.m. on Friday, December 22 through 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 2, 2024. AAA’s Tow-To-Go Service does not take advance appointments because the service is intended for those who did not plan in advance for a sober ride.
There will also be sober ride programs offered in local communities throughout the state and those planning to go out are advised to check for the availability for sober rides where they live.
Persons hosting holiday parties are asked to collect the keys from their guests when they arrive and only let them leave if they are certain their guests are sober to drive and let party guests know you will call a sober ride for them, or they can stay until they are sober to drive.