Socializing Safely This Season: National Impaired Driving Prevention Month

Alcohol-impaired driving has led to over 10,000 deaths each year. My Administration is advancing new tools that can help prevent driving under the influence and improve road safety. Our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests in technologies that can detect and prevent impaired driving, and it requires all new passenger cars to include features like collision warnings and automatic emergency braking, which can help to avoid accidents. The Department of Transportation’s National Roadway Safety Strategy works to eliminate traffic deaths and make crashes less destructive. For example, their Safe Streets and Roads for All program offers more than $800 million in grants to help cities, counties, Tribes, and other organizations plan and implement measures improve the safety of our Nation’s roadways. The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration (NHTSA) reported that in 2019 during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, 210 lives were lost due to alcohol-impaired driving crashes.

1. Driving while impaired by any substance — legal or illegal — is dangerous.
2. Be driven by a mother’s painand help prevent more victims of drunk and drugged driving.
3. Each December, we go out for fun, parties and drinks with family and friends.

I encourage every American to plan ahead how you will get home after drinking and to be sure that if you have used any substance you never get behind the wheel. And whenever you see loved ones or colleagues putting themselves or others at risk, step up to offer a hand. At the same time, we are promoting life-saving tools that can keep people from driving under the influence.

December is National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month

National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month occurs annually in the month of December, as it is the height of the holiday season. Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.References to non-CDC sites on the Internet are provided as a service to MMWR readers and do not constitute or imply endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the U.S. CDC is not responsible for the content of pages found at these sites. URL addresses listed in MMWR were current as of the date of publication.

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Though there are no rules to help someone get through the holidays, OVC offers suggestions from survivors based on their lived experience in Coping With the Holidays After the Death of a Loved One or When You Are a Victim/Crime Survivor. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) founder Candy Lightner challenged legislators to take drunk driving seriously. Youth.gov is the U.S. government website that helps you create, maintain, and strengthen effective youth programs. Included are youth facts, funding information, and tools to help you assess community assets, generate maps of local and federal resources, search for evidence-based youth programs, and keep up-to-date on the latest, youth-related news. We’ll be in touch with the latest information on how President Biden and his administration are working for the American people, as well as ways you can get involved and help our country build back better.

My Administration is also raising awareness about the effects of impairment on driving ability through the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over and If You Feel Different, You Drive Different national media campaigns. Every year, thousands of lives are needlessly lost on our Nation’s roadways because of alcohol — and drug-impaired driving. These are avoidable tragedies that leave deep holes in our Nation’s families and communities.

Socializing Safely This Season: National Impaired Driving Prevention Month

During National Impaired Driving Prevention Month, we reaffirm our commitment to preventing impaired driving. We remember the victims and honor their memory by making the responsible decision to drive sober and ensure that others do the same. All 50 States and the District of Columbia enforce the minimum legal drinking age of 21 years. NHTSA asks minors to avoid alcohol, and encourages parents and other caregivers to make a new or renewed commitment to never cater a party to underage drinking.

If someone you know is drinking, do not let that person get behind the wheel. If you see an impaired driver on the road, contact law enforcement. Your actions may save someone’s life, and inaction could cost a life. By talking about the risks and setting drug overdose definition, risks, signs, and more clear expectations, parents and other caregivers can help their children stay safe, sober, and focused on the road. During this holiday season especially, let us remember all those we have lost to impaired driving and take simple steps to save lives.

We owe it to them all to do everything we can to prevent future tragedies. That starts by working to reduce substance use disorders, raising awareness of the dangers of impaired driving; and investing in technologies that can help prevent crashes, injuries, and deaths. This holiday season, too many American families will have an empty seat at their table after losing a loved one in a drunk or drug-impaired driving accident. More than 10,000 Americans die every year in these how to stop taking gabapentin: 6 simple steps to safely wean off preventable crashes. During National Impaired Driving Prevention Month, we call on everyone to help save a life by planning ahead, calling for a ride, only driving when sober, and helping friends and loved ones do the same every time. Nearly a third of deadly car wrecks in America involve alcohol, and some 26 million people drove under the influence in 2020, endangering themselves, passengers and passersby, and the law enforcement officers who work to keep our roads safe.

Walking in a straight line or saying the alphabet backwards are an example of field sobriety tests. You can also show your commitment to drive sober by displaying one of our Tie One On for Safety red ribbons or magnetic decals on your vehicle, which are available at our local MADD offices around the country. You can also learn essential skills to assist victims of impaired driving through the OVC Training and Technical Assistance Center. The pain caused by one person’s choice to drive impaired is often permanent. Every single death left a permanent empty seat at the table and turned a time of celebration into tragedy. That is why Mothers Against Drunk Driving® (MADD) is teaming up with law enforcement agencies across the country throughout the month of December, which has been recognized as National Impaired Driving Prevention Month for the 39th consecutive year.

But we ask you to stop and think for a second about being responsible. December is National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month and since the holiday season has a higher accident rate than others on average, it is important to echo the message of consciousness of being in a proper state behind the wheel. According to the National Safety Council, over 40,000 people died in alcohol-related traffic accidents last year.