It is nearly Fourth of July weekend, which implies events, celebratory fireworks and disappointing burgers served by dads who do not really know what they’re doing on the grill. However hey, that is nothing a pleasant, thick slice of unmelted cheddar cheese cannot make worse. Sadly, I’ll not have the ability to persuade everybody to serve one thing higher than overcooked baseball-shaped burgers, however hopefully, I can at the very least persuade you to be additional cautious on the highway this week and give you a plan to keep away from drunk and even tipsy driving on one of many deadliest weekends of the yr.
In keeping with the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration, 617 folks died in automobile crashes in the course of the 2023 Fourth of July vacation interval, with 38% of these attributed to drunk driving crashes. That is 233 deaths associated to drunk driving. Between 2019 and 2023, we noticed 2,653 highway deaths associated to Fourth of July celebrations, with an an identical 38% of crashes attributable to drunk drivers. Younger folks between the ages of 21 and 34 had been extra more likely to drive drunk, accounting for 48% of drunk drivers in lethal crashes.
It could be nice if “consuming and driving may kill you or another person” had been sufficient to persuade folks to remain sober whereas they’re on the highway, however sadly, it is not. So it is also price reminding everybody that the cops additionally know folks like to drink and drive over the vacation weekend, and can possible be out in power over the following week, particularly searching for drunk drivers. If the danger of killing your self or others is not sufficient to maintain you from driving whereas intoxicated, possibly the specter of being arrested and charged with a DUI that would simply price you greater than $10,000 will.
Tipsy driving remains to be harmful
It is easy to imagine most of these crashes had been attributable to drivers who had been significantly intoxicated, and you’ll, after all, by no means drive if you happen to had been really drunk, however because the NHTSA stats present, in 2023, solely 27% of the lethal Fourth of July drunk driving crashes concerned a driver with a blood-alcohol content material twice the authorized restrict or extra. The overwhelming majority of these crashes concerned drivers with decrease BACs who possible thought they had been good to drive however really weren’t.
On high of that, many states have impaired driving legal guidelines that permit officers to arrest drivers whose BAC is under the authorized restrict. In Georgia, for instance, you may be charged with DUI Much less Secure, even if you happen to aren’t legally above the restrict. And on a vacation weekend identified for drunk driving, anticipate any officer who can hand a type of out to take action.
Contemplating how sizzling it will more than likely be, it’s very comprehensible that you just’d need to have a good time the vacation weekend with a couple of chilly ones, however if you happen to plan to take action, please give you a plan to get house with out driving. Even the exorbitant price of an Uber can be far cheaper than the price of a DUI, and it additionally does not include the added threat of killing your self or another person.
After all, that is quite a bit simpler to do if you happen to’re one of many few U.S. Individuals who dwell in an actual metropolis that provides a semi-functional public transportation system, since you’ll be able to simply take the prepare or stroll house. Most Individuals, nonetheless, are caught getting round by automobile on roads filled with drunk, harmful drivers, and we actually hope each single certainly one of you stays secure this yr. We want your clicks, and you may’t click on the blogs if you happen to’re lifeless or in jail.