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TIE ONE ON FOR SAFETY
During November and December, spirits are high,
celebrations abound and travel increases on America’s roadways. Unfortunately,
drunk driving is usually on the rise as well.
That’s why each year the Coalition For A Safe And Drug-Free Clay County
partners with MADD to ask that
people put red ribbons on their vehicle antenna or their rearview mirror.
This is a pledge to drive safe, sober and buckled up during the holidays
and throughout the year. Our
message includes safety belts because they are the best defense against a drunk
driver.
Tie One On For
Safety runs Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day – the period when road
travel increases and the threat of drunk driving is most prevalent.
Each year, nationally, more than 1,000 people typically die between
Thanksgiving and New Year’s in drunk driving crashes and more than 2,000 people
are killed in drunk driving crashes and/or crashes where safety belts were not
used.
In
2008, an estimated 11,773 people died in drunk driving crashes involving a
driver with an illegal BAC (.08 or greater). These deaths constitute 31.6
percent of the 37,261 total traffic fatalities in 2008.
MADD has incorporated
Tie One On For Safety into its
Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving which calls for:
- Intensive, high-visibility law enforcement efforts,
including sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols;
- Alcohol ignition interlocks installed on the vehicles
of all convicted drunk drivers;
- Research of transparent, vehicle-based technologies
that will prevent people from driving drunk; and
- Grassroots support of all these efforts.
To learn more about these efforts, visit
www.madd.org.
To get ribbons, contact the Coalition office at 389-6557 or
safeanddrugfreeclaycounty@gmail.com.
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO
STOP DRUNK DRIVING?
- Be a responsible party host (see Safe Party Guide at
www.madd.org)
- Tie a MADD ribbon to a visible location on your
vehicle as a symbol of your commitment to drive safe, sober and buckled up
during the holidays.
- Write letters to the editor of local newspapers
expressing your concern over the drunk driving problem in your community
- Get involved – become a volunteer for your local MADD
chapter
Myths and Facts
About Drunk Driving
Myth:
Coffee can sober up someone who has had too much to drink.
Fact:
Only time sobers. It
takes about one hour to oxidize each drink.
Myth:
Hard liquor is more intoxicating than
beer or wine.
Fact:
A 12-ounce can of beer, a five-ounce glass of wine, a 12-ounce wine
cooler contain the same amount of alcohol and the same intoxication potential as
1 ½ ounce of liquor.
Myth:
Someone who has had too much to drink will look intoxicated.
Fact:
Someone’s physical appearance can be
misleading. One drink can impair
someone’s ability to drive.
Judgment is the first thing affected when someone has been drinking and
important motor skills are next.
How To Spot A Drunk
Driver:
These warning signs should be your signal to take down a
license plate number, a description of the vehicle and the direction in which it
was traveling to report to the proper authorities.
Do NOT attempt to stop the vehicle.
- Straddling lanes or driving on the center line
- Drifting or moving in a straight line at a slight
angle to the roadway
- Driving with headlights off at night
- Erratic braking or stopping without cause
- Driving below the speed limit
- Slow response to traffic signals (sudden stop, delayed
start)
- Nearly striking an object, curb, etc.
- Weaving or zigzagging across the road
- Driving on the wrong side of the road or completely
off the road way
- Tailgating
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