Making an Impact
December 2023
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In this issue:
- Keeping Our Older Drivers Safe
- Older Driver Safety Week - 1st Week of December
- How Aging Can Affect Driving
- Older Drivers and Vehicles
- Resources
- Holiday Season
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2023 Winter Holiday Season National Enforcement Mobilization Dec 13, 2023 - Jan 1, 2024
- Plan Ahead
- Holiday Mini-Planner (YDDYL) Talking Points & Fact Sheet
- Partnering with High Schools to Improve Work Zone Safety and Save Lives
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Keeping Our Older Drivers Safe
Older Driving Safety Week- 1st week of December
It’s never too late to have a heart-to-heart with your loved ones about their safety.
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Are you an older driver? If not, you probably know one — a parent, grandparent or neighbor down the street.
Between 2012 and 2021, the U.S. population of people 65 and older increased by 22%, and in 2021 the number of people 65 and older killed in traffic crashes made up 17% of all traffic fatalities. During Older Driver Safety Awareness
This week (December 4–8, 2023), we remind you that simply getting older doesn’t mean it's time to hang up your keys, but you should evaluate how you — or loved ones — drive.
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How Aging Can Affect Driving | |
As people age, it's important to monitor changes in overall health as it relates to driving. While some drivers can safely drive into their nineties, for others medical conditions, problems with eyesight, sleep, tremors, or memory can make driving more difficult and dangerous.
Ask yourself, or the older driver in your life:
- Can you remember the routes you often drive?
- Do traffic signs and signals, or other drivers make you feel overwhelmed while driving?
- Have you recently received a ticket or citation for a driving violation, or been in a minor crash?
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Many older people take multiple medications, whether prescribed or over-the-counter. Unfortunately, some of these drugs or a combination of drugs can impair judgment, or affect reflexes or the alertness necessary for safe driving. An older driver’s primary care provider or pharmacist can help determine if an older driver’s medications can affect their driving.
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Older Drivers and Vehicles | |
Many vehicles can be modified to accommodate an older driver’s specific needs by adding adaptive equipment. This equipment can be as simple as a swivel seat for more convenient access, a hand control to make it easier to operate a vehicle, or a pedal extender. Make sure to ask a qualified mobility dealer for training on how to use the equipment. | |
Driver Assistance Technologies | |
Each year, vehicle manufacturers release new and improved driver assistance technologies to help keep road users safer. The technologies include everything from automatic emergency braking to blind spot intervention and lane keeping assistance.
Driver assistance technologies aren’t just about keeping drivers safe; they also keep pedestrians and other road users safe.
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DRUNK DRIVING | DRIVE SOBER OR GET PULLED OVER | |
2023 Winter Holiday Season National Enforcement Mobilization
Dec 13, 2023 - Jan 1, 2024
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The holiday season is known for being merry and bright, but it is also known for being the deadliest season when it comes to drunk driving.
Unfortunately, every holiday season, lives are lost due to impaired drivers.
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Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over | |
Drunk driving is a problem on our nation’s roads every day, but it’s more prevalent during the holidays.
- During the New Year’s and Christmas periods in 2020, there were 209 drunk-driving-related fatalities. These deaths were 100% preventable.
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In 2020, there were 11,654 people killed nationwide in drunk-driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third of the crash fatalities that year.
The tragedy of these deaths is felt year-round, but for many, most strongly during the holidays.
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If You Feel Different, You Drive Different
— Drive High, Get a DUI
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26% of those drivers had active THC, which is found in marijuana, in their system.
Whether the drug is obtained legally or illegally, drug-impaired driving can be deadly for drivers, passengers, and others on the road.
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① If you have a holiday gathering on your calendar, make smart choices and plan how you’re going to get home safely once the celebration ends.
② If you are the designated driver, make your commitment to stay 100% sober to keep you and your friends safe.
③ If you see an impaired driver on the road, immediately contact local law enforcement. It could save the life of the driver, passenger, and others on the road.
④ And, if you have a friend who is about to drive impaired, take away their keys and help them make arrangements to get home safely — it will be the greatest gift you ever give them.
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During the past few years, drivers are making riskier decisions when they are behind the wheel — including drinking and driving.
As the year comes to a close and a new one begins, make it a point to drive sober every day.
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Holiday Mini-Planner (YDDYL)
Talking Points & Fact Sheet
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Impaired Driving is a Serious Crime | |
- Impaired driving is one of America’s most deadly crimes. Nationally, in 2003, more than 17,000 people died in alcohol-related highway crashes. Hundreds of thousands more were injured.
- Every 30 minutes, nearly 50 times a day, someone in America dies in an alcohol-related crash. This means you, your friends, your family are regularly at risk.
- According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), about three in every ten Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some point in their lives.
- Although national alcohol-related highway fatalities during 2003 declined slightly for the first time in several years (down 3% from 2002), there is still much more work to be done.
- Too many people still don’t understand that alcohol, drugs and driving don’t mix. Impaired driving is no accident – nor is it a victimless crime.
- Since 1981, every President of the United States has proclaimed December “National Drunk and Drugged Driving (3D) Prevention Month” to help underscore the public’s commitment to preventing impaired driving and promoting the use of designated drivers and sober ride programs.
- Legislators and law enforcement officials are becoming even more vigilant in combating impaired driving. 2024 marks the first year that .08 blood alcohol content (BAC) laws have been enacted in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
- The month of December and the New Year’s Eve holiday are also often highlighted by significant increases in state and local law enforcement efforts to combat impaired driving such as the use of sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols.
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This Holiday Season, If You Catch a Buzz, Catch a Ride —
Designate a Sober Driver Before All Holiday Parties
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Americans who drink and drive after holiday parties and festivities make the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s one of the year’s most deadly and dangerous seasons due to alcohol-related crashes.
But much of this can be prevented by reminding all drivers of a few simple precautions:
Plan ahead and always designate a sober driver before the holiday party or celebration begins!
- Don’t even think about getting behind the wheel of your vehicle if you’ve been out drinking.
- If you are impaired, call a taxi – use mass transit – or get a sober friend or family member to come and get you.
- Or just stay where you are and sleep it off until you are sober.
- Remember – Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk. Take the keys and never let a friend leave your sight if you think they are about to drive while impaired.
- If you are hosting a party this holiday season, remind your guests to plan ahead and designate their sober driver, always offer alcohol-free beverages during the event, and make sure all of your guests leave with a sober driver.
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Impaired Driving Creates Serious Consequences | |
- The tragedies and costs from drinking and driving impaired do not just end at the potential death, disfigurement, disability and injury caused by impaired drivers.
- Driving impaired or riding with someone who is impaired is not worth the risk. The consequences are serious and real. Not only do you risk killing yourself or someone else, but the trauma and financial costs of a crash or an arrest for driving while impaired can be really significant and not the way you want to spend your holiday season.
- Violators often face jail time, the loss of their driver’s license, higher insurance rates, and dozens of other unanticipated expenses from attorney fees, other fines and court costs, car towing and repairs, lost time at work, etc.
- Plus, there is the added embarrassment, humiliation, and potential loss and consequence after informing family, friends, and employers.
- So, remember, this holiday season, if you catch a buzz, catch a ride. Designate a sober driver before all holiday season and New Year’s festivities.
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Partnering with high schools to improve work zone safety and save lives. | |
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Hey students!
Here’s an opportunity to SHINE!! Design a billboard that makes a difference.
- Are you creative?
- Do you care about the safety of your friends, family and community members?
- Do you want to save lives?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then we have a contest just for you!
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BONUS!
You could win $250, not to mention bragging rights and a great addition to your resume or college application.
Students must live in Oregon and be enrolled in a public, private, or charter school.
The fall contest is for students who live in the following counties: Clackamas, Hood River, Multnomah, Washington, Clatsop, Columbia, Tillamook, Yamhill, Polk, Marion, Lincoln, Linn, Benton, and Lane.
The spring contest is for students who live in the following counties: Douglas, Curry, Coos, Josephine, Jackson, Wasco, Sherman, Gilliam, Jefferson, Wheeler, Crook, Deschutes, Lake, Klamath, Morrow, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Baker, Grant, Harney, and Malheur.
Students may work independently or as part of a team.
- Fall contest submission deadline: 5 p.m., Nov. 1, 2023.
- Spring contest submission deadline: 5 p.m., March 15, 2024.
For information about contest details, visit the Work Zone Safety Billboard Design Contest webpage. Good luck to everyone who participates. Maybe we will see your billboard displayed along the highway!
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Drive Sober, Safe, and Happy!
from your
Friends at Oregon Impact
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