Community Corner
Don't Push Your Luck This Weekend – If You Drink, Don't Drive!
Advice from Mothers Against Drunk Driving – simple ways to prevent your St. Patrick's Day weekend revelry from turning into tragedy.
By Jody Iorns, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, SF Bay Area
St. Patrick ’s Day has become a national day of celebration. This year, St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Saturday, and that means that those celebrations will be more plentiful and, as a result, riskier than those held during weekdays. According to the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration, in 2009, 134 fatalities occurred on St. Patrick’s Day alone – of those 37% were due to drunk drivers.
DON’T LET THIS BE YOU! If you do plan to enjoy the celebrations, create your own luck by simply planning ahead:
- Designate a sober driver – remember, even buzzed driving is drunk driving
- Plan to use public transportation – BART or buses – or taxis
For more information about drunk/drugged driving and prevention of underage drinking, or to donate or volunteer, please contact the San Francisco Bay Area office of Mothers Against Drunk Driving at: 925-452-8752, or email us at Bayarea.ca@madd.org.
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