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Tips To Stay Safe On July 4th

Posted on July 1, 2016 by Editorial Staff

July 4th stay safe driving July 4th is right around the corner, and although it’s a great day to celebrate summer with friends and family, it’s also a day to be really careful while driving.

Thanks to people celebrating a bit too much, there are a lot of drunk drivers on the roads on July 4th. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has ruled July 4th as one of the deadliest holidays to be on the roads in the United States.

According to the NHTSA, 51% of traffic crashes on July 4th are due to drunk driving, and they’ve shared data from 2014 that showed over the long weekend there were 164 crashes with people who had blood alcohol concentration (BAC) over .08.

Given the statistics, how do you plan on staying safe this coming holiday weekend? You could do any one of the following:

Stay put and celebrate July 4th at home

The safest option to celebrate and have fun is to host your own 4th of July party. Staying home with friends is still fun, and when you stay home you don’t have to worry about finding a designated driver or getting a ride share.

Appoint a designated driver

If staying home isn’t for you, choose your designated driver long before you leave for the day. Research has shown that someone is much more likely to drink and drive if they don’t already have a set ride home.

Be the designated driver

You might think you can’t have a good time on July 4th without drinking, but there’s a lot to be said for staying sober on such a great holiday. You can create cool non-alcohol drinks, enjoy the fireworks without your beer goggles on, and have the satisfaction of knowing that you delivered your drunk friends home safe and sound.

July 4th is almost here, and along with all the drunk drivers on the roads, police officers will be on the roads looking for those drunk drivers. Stay safe, have fun, and enjoy your 4th of July by saying no to drinking and driving.

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Drop In DUI Rates Over 4th of July weekend

Posted on July 31, 2015 by Editorial Staff

july-4-drunk-driversThe period of time between Memorial Day and Labor Day isn’t known as the 100 deadliest days for teen drivers for no reason at all. It’s a period of time when there are more crashes for teen and adult drivers, and the July 4th holiday is one of the most deadly days out of the entire summer.

That’s why police in Arizona were out in full force over the holiday weekend, but when the stats started to roll in after the holiday was over, they actually showed a drop in driving under the influence (DUI) arrests.

The Director of Highway Safety feels that it was ad campaigns that helped bring about the drop. The state has recently been focusing on freeway boards that say, “Drive Hammered. Get Nailed.”

There were 443 motorists who were arrested in Arizona on the July 4th weekend, and that number was 135 less than the year before. The annual DUI rates in the state have dropped too: there were 32,174 arrests in 2012, and that number had dropped to 29,250 by 2014.

But even one crash on the 4th of July weekend is one too many, and one drunk driver took the life of his girlfriend after he ran a red light and crashed into another vehicle. With a blood alcohol concentration of .018, he was twice the legal limit. According to Arizona DUI law, if it was his first offense he’ll be guilty of a minimum of an extreme DUI and may receive 30 days in jail, fines up to $2,500, must undergo alcohol screening, and any vehicle he drives must be equipped with an ignition interlock.

Anytime a state shows a drop in DUI arrests on such a deadly day for driving is good news, and Arizona is no exception. Clearly the state is doing something right in the fight against drunk driving.

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Do You Know The Most Dangerous Times To Be On The Road?

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Editorial Staff

when-are-most-alcohol-related-crashesSpring turns into summer pretty quickly, and with summer comes road trips, summer BBQs, and long weekends away. There’s nothing quite like putting the keys in the ignition and heading out for some summer fun, but have you ever thought about how safe the roads are when you go?

According to the National Safety Council, there are quite a few ‘deadliest days’ on the roads in the United States and most of them center right on national holidays. Which is the most dangerous for drivers in the USA? You might be shocked to find out the most likely time for alcohol-related crashes is the big kick off to summer—Independence Day.

Independence Day is full of sun and fun, and deadly, alcohol-related crashes. Data compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that a boggling 51% of crashes on July 4th are alcohol-related, and Labor Day and Memorial Day come in close behind. Because the number one cause of teen death is car crashes, Memorial Day also kicks off a period of time known as the ‘100 deadliest days’ to be at teen driver.

The ultimate family get together, Thanksgiving, also hovers at the top of the list for deadly days to drive. The most recent data from the NHTSA shows that 431 people were killed in crashes and 40 percent of those were alcohol-related.

You might think Memorial Day and the Fourth of July are great times to put your summer into high gear, but if you’re drinking and driving, it’s also the time you’re most likely to crash and be injured or killed. Stay safe this summer and for the rest of the year and practice safe driving—don’t drive while distracted by your cell phone or anything else, always buckle up your seat belts, and never get behind the wheel while drunk.

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July 4th Advice from Ben Franklin

Posted on July 4, 2014 by Editorial Staff

 

 

don't drink and drive this July 4th

“Drink not to elevation.”

Benjamin Franklin, The 13 Moral Virtues

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What Would Thomas Jefferson Say
About Our July 4th Roadways?

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Editorial Staff

declaration-of-happiness
Tomorrow Americans will celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the document that most of us consider one of the most important in our history. Parades, festivities and ceremonies will mark the occasion and remind us of the Declaration’s meaning.

But the day is also haunted by the specter of road deaths. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety ranks July 4th as the country’s deadliest day, with more fatalities than any other in the year. This year the National Safety Council estimates that 385 people will lose their lives on the road this holiday weekend. That’s more than those who died fighting on both sides in the battles of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill combined. T_Jefferson_by_Charles_Willson_Peale_1791_2

What would Thomas Jefferson and the other Founding Fathers think of those who commemorate their achievement by drinking and driving recklessly, those who have turned Independence Day into an occasion for warning as much as celebration?

declaration_independenceOf course, there were no cars, and even precious few roads, back in 1776. But in the Declaration of Independence Jefferson wrote that the Americans were rejecting British dominion in order to start a new government “most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Safety, security, life, happiness, the public good: these are all cited as justifications for the radical course that the Colonists took 238 years ago.

If those things were important enough to start a revolution over in 1776, they’re at least important enough to think about this holiday weekend, as you venture onto our nation’s roads.

We wish you all of your your hard-won Safety and Happiness this Independence Day.

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