With New Year’s Eve celebrations taking place around the state, law enforcement officials are urging you to play it safe. State police will have extra patrols on the roadways.
New Year’s Day is among the deadliest days for drinking and driving, according to AAA.
One way to stay safe, is to choose not to get behind the wheel.
Which is why, millions of people will be using ride-share apps. Uber driver Bola Fasasi looks forward to New Year’s Eve.
“It’s one of the best days of the year,” said Bola Fasasi. Fasasi prides himself on getting people to and from their destinations on New Year’s Eve
“It’s good because you feel like you’re helping people out to get home safely. So, it’s good.”
People we spoke with agree that ride sharing is a good option. But they’re not planning to go out.
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"I’m not usually on the road at that time,” said Joe Trazinski. “It’s dangerous."
“Don’t like being out at night... yeah know...drink drivers. You have to watch for that,” said Trazinski.
“Most cases people think they can drink and they’ll be okay. They don’t realize as little as one drink can affect a person,” said Bob Garguilo, M.A.D.D.
Garguilo with Mothers Against Drunk driving says the holiday season is dreadful when it comes to drunk drivers because more people are out celebrating.
According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety administration – nationwide – the number of fatal crashes for all of 2018 dropped two percent from the year before. The agency reported 29 percent of those crashes involved drugs and alcohol.
Even though - state police will have roving patrols and DUI checkpoints across the state - drivers need to be vigilant too.
“Law enforcement can’t be everywhere at every time. So the people need to make the right decision,” said Garguilo.
AAA offers this advice for safe celebrations: Always plan ahead, have a designated sober driver, never get behind the wheel after drinking and be a responsible host by always offering non-alcoholic beverages.
