Drive Sober Campaign in Full Force for Fourth

File photo.

This year, Americans will celebrate the Fourth on a Monday, which means the holiday weekend starts at 6 p.m. Friday, July 1, and ends on Tuesday, July 5, at 5:59 a.m.

Parties, barbecues and fireworks are just some of the festivities that lead droves of Americans onto our nation’s roadways every Fourth of July. Unfortunately, some celebrations may include drinking alcohol, which too often leads to drunk driving.

That is why the Hawai‘i Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are reminding drivers to drink responsibly this holiday and throughout the year with the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign.

During 2011-15, there were nine fatalities on Hawai‘i’s roadways over the Fourth of July holiday, and seven of the nine fatalities were alcohol-and-drug related.

Over the Fourth of July holiday period in 2014, 164 people were killed nationwide in crashes involving at least one driver or motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 grams per deciliter or higher.

Drivers should expect to see more patrol vehicles and sobriety checkpoints this Fourth of July weekend.

OBEY THE LAW

Don’t drink and drive, and don’t let your friends do it, either. Keep in mind that officers conduct impaired driving enforcement year round, not just during this holiday period. Every week throughout the year, police statewide conduct sobriety checkpoints as part of our “Drive Sober of Get Pulled Over” campaign.

ADVICE FROM HDOT

• Plan before you party.
• Plan a safe way home before the fun begins.
• Designate a sober driver or use public transportation to get home safely.
• Download the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s SaferRide app, available for Android and Apple. The app can help users call a taxi or a friend for a ride home, and help you identify your location so you can be picked up.
• If you know someone who is about to drive or ride after drinking, be strong—take the keys and make arrangements to help them get safely to their destination.
• While you’re out celebrating our country’s freedom, you could lose your own if you choose to drink and drive. Not only would you be risking your life and the lives of others—you could face a DUI arrest. The average DUI costs $10,000, making it difficult to recover financially.
• And the cost doesn’t end there. Arrested drunk drivers face jail time, the loss of their driver licenses, higher insurance rates, and dozens of other hefty expenses, from car towing and repairs to attorney fees, fines, court costs, lost time at work, and more.

National Facts & Statistics

• From 2010 to 2014, there were 752 people killed in drunk-driving crashes over the Fourth of July holiday periods.
• Over half (58%) of the young drivers (18 to 34 years old) killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes were alcohol-impaired (BAC of .08 g/dL or higher) during the 2014 Fourth of July period.
• The rate of alcohol impairment among drivers involved in fatal crashes during the 2014 July Fourth period was over three times higher at night than it was during the day.
• It is illegal to drive with a BAC of .08 g/dL or higher in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Yet, of the 164 people killed in drunk driving crashes during the 2014 July Fourth period, 113 people died in crashes involving at least one driver or motorcycle operator with a BAC of .15 or higher—almost twice the set limit.