Dec. 30, 2020 -As people prepare to celebrate the end of 2020, the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission encourages everyone who has been celebrating with alcohol or other impairing substances while ringing in 2021 to get a ride home instead of driving.
 
“I believe we’re all anxious to bid goodbye to 2020, but getting behind the wheel while you are impaired will only make a bad year worse,” LHSC Executive Director Lisa Freeman said. “Don’t end a tough year on a sour note.”
 
The New Year’s Eve holiday can be a dangerous one on the roads. In 2019, there were 28 alcohol-related crashes in Louisiana that resulted in injuries or fatalities. According to the Center for Analytics and Research in Transportation Safety at LSU, those crashes caused 36 injuries and two deaths.
 
Freeman noted that the 2019 statistics reflect a drop in the number of alcohol-related crashes and injuries over previous years.
 
“People in Louisiana are changing their behaviors when it comes to impaired driving, and that’s a positive development,” Freeman said. “We still have too many individuals who think they can drive while they are impaired, and that puts everyone on the road in jeopardy.”
 
Freeman offered some tips for New Year’s Eve partygoers:
 
  • Get a designated driver before you start drinking. Ask a friend or family member to make sure you get home safely.

  • If you’re taking prescription medications, make sure you know how they can affect your judgment, reflexes and senses before driving.

  • Be a hero and volunteer to be a designated driver for others.

  • If you’re having friends or family over during the holidays or to watch a bowl game, offer water, soda or other non-alcoholic drinks.

  • If you have to think about whether you are impaired by alcohol or prescription drugs, you should not be driving. Buzzed driving is drunk driving.