WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Safety Administration is warning all motorists traveling during the Labor Day holiday to ‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over’. Through September 5th, advertisements will appear nationwide and law enforcement agencies across the country will be on patrol to protect the public from impaired drivers.
According to new data released by NHTSA this week, the nation lost 35,092 people in traffic crashes in 2015, ending a 5-decade trend of declining fatalities with a 7.2 percent increase in deaths from 2014. The data showed a 3.2 percent increase in drunk driving fatalities, resulting in 10,265 deaths in 2015, compared to 9,943, in 2014. The vast majority of drivers involved in these crashes were behind the wheel of a passenger car or SUV.
It is against the law in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico for adults over the age of 21 to drive a vehicle if you have a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher. U.S. drivers can prevent drunk driving by following the law, planning a safe ride home, designating a sober driver or using NHTSA’s SaferRide app to call a taxi or a friend so they can be picked up. The app is available for Android devices on Google Play, and Apple devices on the iTunes store.
For more information, and to read the entire National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s press release, follow this link: http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/nhtsa-drive-sober-labor-day-09012016