Don’t Count on Your Luck To Be Safe This St. Patrick’s Day

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is sending out pleas to St. Patrick’s Day celebrants to have fun, but to be safe during their festivities this year trying to reduce the number of fatal auto accidents.

St. Paddy’s day is one holiday that seems to be associated with a fair amount of heavy drinking. Since the 17th is on Monday this year, the entire weekend before could be full of celebrations.  And whether it’s green beer at an Irish festival or Irish whiskey at your favorite pub, there will be lots of drinkers who won’t know what to say when resulting in a car crash.

In 2007, almost one-half (forty-four percent) of the 105 vehicle or motorcycle fatalities involved drivers with a blood-alcohol level of .08 or higher.  In 2006, there were 13,470 traffic accident fatalities that were alcohol related, or 32% of the total 42,642.

The most important thing to remember this St. Patrick’s Day is that Friends Don’t Let Friend’s Drive Drunk.  Every group should have a designated, sober driver to take control when it’s time to go home.

NHTSA suggests these few simple rules to keep everyone safe this St. Patrick’s Day:

• Plan a safe way home before the festivities begin;
• Before drinking, please designate a sober driver and give that person your keys;
• If you’re impaired, use a taxi, call a sober friend or family member, or use public transportation so you are sure to get home safely;
• Use your community’s Sober Rides program;
• If you happen to see a drunk driver on the road, don’t hesitate to contact your local law enforcement;
• And remember, if you know someone who is about to drive or ride while impaired, take their keys and help them make other arrangements to get to where they are going safely.

Don’t rely on the Luck of the Irish to keep you safe this St. Patrick’s Day!

If you are hurt in a car accident, please contact the Orlando car accident attorneys at Wooten, Kimbrough & Normand, P.A. for a free consultation. We can answer frequently asked questions about car accidents and advise you about auto body shop repairs to be wary of.