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Make 2016 safe on the roadways

Drinking and driving on New Year’s Eve has been a message pounded into our heads for decades.

Ask any state trooper and they will admit that New Year’s Eve today is a pretty dull evening because the message about drinking and driving has been heard and is being followed.

But even with the message being blasted about drinking and driving on New Year’s Eve, there will be a couple drivers arrested for driving under the influence.

Police officers will admit that Christmas Eve and the night before Thanksgiving are the worst nights for drinking and driving.

Many people play it smart on New Year’s Eve. They attend a party at a friend’s house with plans to sleep there for the night. Other couples may go to a lavish dinner/dance at a hotel and book a room for the night. Then there are others who actually practice having a designated driver or even renting a limousine.

In the back of many minds on New Year’s Eve is the thought they don’t want to be in an accident involving a drunk driver. They believe it is dangerous to be out on the roads that night.

With all that in mind, why isn’t the same thinking about New Year’s Eve and drunk driving followed the rest of the year?

There may be a lot of alcohol consumed on New Year’s Eve but there also is a lot consumed any weekend of the year. People leave bars and get behind the wheel without thinking twice. Why think about it on New Year’s Eve and not the other days of the year?

Alcohol impairs the ability to drive. It slows reaction time and also causes a driver to cross the center line. There are serious or fatal accidents every weekend in Ohio and West Virginia involving alcohol. Innocent family members are killed because someone was behind the wheel under the influence.

Make a New Year’s resolution to not drive under the influence in 2016. Think seriously about the consequences of driving while impaired. It isn’t worth it.

Remember what you do to not drive drunk on New Year’s Eve. Get a designated driver or plan on staying somewhere safe until you are sober.

Let’s make 2016 a year with less DUI arrests.

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