DUI saturation patrols targeting those who drive impaired are planned for Super Bowl Sunday in Siskiyou County.
The county’s AVOID the 8 DUI Enforcement Program announced this week that it is teaming up with the National Football League, California Office of Traffic Safety, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and law enforcement officials to remind everyone to designate a sober driver if they plan to be drinking alcohol on Super Bowl Sunday.
Siskiyou County’s law enforcement chiefs and administrators are passing the following safety message to everyone who will be drinking this weekend: “Real Fans Don’t Let Fans Drive Drunk.”
They are urging everyone to act responsibly, designate a sober driver before the Super Bowl party begins and leave your car keys at home. Designating a sober driver should be on the top of everyone’s Super Bowl party list; it’s just one of several easy steps to help save lives.
Siskiyou County’s Avoid the 8 DUI Task Force is teaming up with CHP officers in Siskiyou County to deploy DUI saturation patrols this Sunday, Feb. 7.
Super Bowl Sunday, according to a press release, is one of America’s biggest and most entertaining national sporting events as friends and families gather to socialize and watch the big game. Yet, it has also become one of the nation’s most dangerous days on the roadways due to impaired driving.
According to research by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2008, fatalities in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes accounted for 32 percent of all motor vehicle traffic fatalities. On Super Bowl Sunday 2008, 49 percent of the fatalities occurred in crashes where a driver or motorcycle rider had a blood alcohol concentration level of .08 or higher.
In California 11 people were killed Super Sunday 2009 and another 133 were injured in alcohol involved collisions. That is three times the daily average killed in California with alcohol as a factor and those injured were other twice the daily average.
“We continue to see far too many people hurt or killed as a result of impaired driving. Please do your part to stop this senseless crime,” said Christopher J. Murphy, director of the California Office of Traffic Safety. “To help ensure that this happens, the Avoid the 8 partners are dedicated to arresting impaired driving. To help, we ask everyone to report drunk drivers, call 911.”
A press release offers the following suggestions:
If hosting a
Super Bowl party
Remember, you can be held liable and prosecuted if someone you served ends up in an impaired-driving crash.
• Make sure all of your guests designate their sober drivers in advance, or help arrange ride-sharing with other sober drivers.
• Serve lots of food and include lots of non-alcoholic beverages at the party.
• Stop serving alcohol at the end of the third quarter of the game and begin serving coffee and dessert.
• Keep the numbers for local cab companies handy, and take the keys away from anyone who is thinking of driving while impaired.
If watching the Super Bowl away from home
• Designate your sober driver before the party begins and leave your car keys at home.
• Avoid drinking too much alcohol too fast. Pace yourself — eat enough food, take breaks, and alternate with non-alcoholic drinks.
• If you don’t have a designated driver, ask a sober friend for a ride home; call a cab, friend, or family member to come and get you; or just stay where you are and sleep it off until you are sober.
• Use your public transportation if available.
• Never let a friend get behind the wheel of their vehicle if you think they are about to drive while impaired. Remember, Fans Don’t Let Fans Drive Drunk.
• Always buckle up — it’s still your best defense against other impaired drivers.
Siskiyou County, Calif. —
